α-Catulin drives metastasis by activating ILK and driving an αvβ3 integrin signaling axis

Cancer Res. 2013 Jan 1;73(1):428-38. doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-2095. Epub 2012 Oct 9.

Abstract

α-Catulin is an oncoprotein that helps sustain proliferation by preventing cellular senescence. Here, we report that α-catulin also drives malignant invasion and metastasis. α-Catulin was upregulated in highly invasive non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell lines, where its ectopic expression or short-hairpin RNA-mediated attenuation enhanced or limited invasion or metastasis, respectively. α-Catulin interacted with integrin-linked kinase (ILK), a serine/threonine protein kinase implicated in cancer cell proliferation, antiapoptosis, invasion, and angiogenesis. Attenuation of ILK or α-catulin reciprocally blocked cell migration and invasion induced by the other protein. Mechanistic investigations revealed that α-catulin activated Akt-NF-κB signaling downstream of ILK, which in turn led to increased expression of fibronectin and integrin αvβ3. Pharmacologic or antibody-mediated blockade of NF-κB or αvβ3 was sufficient to inhibit α-catulin-induced cell migration and invasion. Clinically, high levels of expression of α-catulin and ILK were associated with poor overall survival in patients with NSCLC. Taken together, our study shows that α-catulin plays a critical role in cancer metastasis by activating the ILK-mediated Akt-NF-κB-αvβ3 signaling axis.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blotting, Western
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / metabolism*
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / pathology
  • Enzyme Activation / physiology
  • Humans
  • Integrin alphaVbeta3
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism*
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred NOD
  • Mice, SCID
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology*
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases / metabolism
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Signal Transduction / physiology*
  • Transplantation, Heterologous
  • Two-Hybrid System Techniques
  • alpha Catenin / metabolism

Substances

  • Integrin alphaVbeta3
  • alpha Catenin
  • integrin-linked kinase
  • Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases