The expression and role of RNA binding proteins (RBPs) controlling mRNA translation during tumor progression remains largely uncharacterized. Analysis by immunohistochemistry of the expression of hnRNP A1, hnRNPH, RBM9/FOX2, SRSF1/ASF/SF2, SRSF2/SC35, SRSF3/SRp20, SRSF7/9G8 in breast tumors shows that the expression of hnRNP A1, but not the other tested RBPs, is associated with metastatic relapse. Strikingly, hnRNP A1, a nuclear splicing regulator, is also present in the cytoplasm of tumor cells of a subset of patients displaying exceedingly worse prognosis. Expression of a cytoplasmic mutant of hnRNP A1 leads to increased translation of the mRNA encoding the tyrosine kinase receptor RON/MTS1R, known for its function in tumor dissemination, and increases cell migration in vitro. hnRNP A1 directly binds to the 5' untranslated region of the RON mRNA and activates its translation through G-quadruplex RNA secondary structures. The correlation between hnRNP A1 and RON tumoral expression suggests that these findings hold clinical relevance.
Keywords: RNA-binding protein; RON; breast cancer; metastasis; translation.