The activity status of cofilin is directly related to invasion, intravasation, and metastasis of mammary tumors

Understanding the mechanisms controlling cancer cell invasion and metastasis constitutes a fundamental step in setting new strategies for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of metastatic cancers. LIM kinase1 (LIMK1) is a member of a novel class of serine–threonine protein kinases. Cofilin, a LIMK1 substrate, is essential for the regulation of actin polymerization and depolymerization during cell migration. Previous studies have made opposite conclusions as to the role of LIMK1 in tumor cell motility and metastasis, claiming either an increase or decrease in cell motility and metastasis as a result of LIMK1 over expression (Zebda, N., O. Bernard, M. Bailly, S. Welti, D.S. Lawrence, and J.S. Condeelis. 2000. J. Cell Biol. 151:1119–1128; Davila, M., A.R. Frost, W.E. Grizzle, and R. Chakrabarti. 2003. J. Biol. Chem. 278:36868–36875; Yoshioka, K., V. Foletta, O. Bernard, and K. Itoh. 2003. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 100:7247–7252; Nishita, M., C. Tomizawa, M. Yamamoto, Y. Horita, K. Ohashi, and K. Mizuno. 2005. J. Cell Biol. 171:349–359). We resolve this paradox by showing that the effects of LIMK1 expression on migration, intravasation, and metastasis of cancer cells can be most simply explained by its regulation of the output of the cofilin pathway. LIMK1-mediated decreases or increases in the activity of the cofilin pathway are shown to cause proportional decreases or increases in motility, intravasation, and metastasis of tumor cells.

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The Role of WAVE2 Signaling in Cancer

Biomedicines ◽

10.3390/biomedicines9091217 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (9) ◽

pp. 1217

Author(s):

Priyanka Shailendra Rana ◽

Akram Alkrekshi ◽

Wei Wang ◽

Vesna Markovic ◽

Khalid Sossey-Alaoui

Keyword(s):

Actin Cytoskeleton ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Cell Invasion ◽

Critical Role ◽

Therapeutic Strategies ◽

Small Gtpases ◽

Cancer Cell Invasion ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Regulatory Complex

The Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) and WASP family verprolin-homologous protein (WAVE)—WAVE1, WAVE2 and WAVE3 regulate rapid reorganization of cortical actin filaments and have been shown to form a key link between small GTPases and the actin cytoskeleton. Upon receiving upstream signals from Rho-family GTPases, the WASP and WAVE family proteins play a significant role in polymerization of actin cytoskeleton through activation of actin-related protein 2/3 complex (Arp2/3). The Arp2/3 complex, once activated, forms actin-based membrane protrusions essential for cell migration and cancer cell invasion. Thus, by activation of Arp2/3 complex, the WAVE and WASP family proteins, as part of the WAVE regulatory complex (WRC), have been shown to play a critical role in cancer cell invasion and metastasis, drawing significant research interest over recent years. Several studies have highlighted the potential for targeting the genes encoding either part of or a complete protein from the WASP/WAVE family as therapeutic strategies for preventing the invasion and metastasis of cancer cells. WAVE2 is well documented to be associated with the pathogenesis of several human cancers, including lung, liver, pancreatic, prostate, colorectal and breast cancer, as well as other hematologic malignancies. This review focuses mainly on the role of WAVE2 in the development, invasion and metastasis of different types of cancer. This review also summarizes the molecular mechanisms that regulate the activity of WAVE2, as well as those oncogenic pathways that are regulated by WAVE2 to promote the cancer phenotype. Finally, we discuss potential therapeutic strategies that target WAVE2 or the WAVE regulatory complex, aimed at preventing or inhibiting cancer invasion and metastasis.

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Role of mTOR Signaling in Tumor Cell Motility, Invasion and Metastasis

Current Protein and Peptide Science ◽

10.2174/138920311795659407 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 30-42 ◽

Cited By ~ 132

Author(s):

Shile Huang ◽

Hongyu Zhou

Keyword(s):

Tumor Cell ◽

Cell Motility ◽

Mtor Signaling ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Tumor Cell Motility

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Role of mTOR Signaling in Tumor Cell Motility, Invasion and Metastasis

Advances in Cancer Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/9781681082332116030009 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 207-244

Keyword(s):

Tumor Cell ◽

Cell Motility ◽

Mtor Signaling ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Tumor Cell Motility

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Current Study of RhoA and Associated Signaling Pathways in Gastric Cancer

Current Stem Cell Research & Therapy ◽

10.2174/1574888x15666200330143958 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (7) ◽

pp. 607-613 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Haiping Liu ◽

Yiqian Liu ◽

Xiaochuan Zhang ◽

Xiaodong Wang

Keyword(s):

Gastric Cancer ◽

Survival Rate ◽

Signaling Pathways ◽

Tumor Cells ◽

Actin Polymerization ◽

Cell Transformation ◽

Cell Movement ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Common Cancer

Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth-most common cancer in the world, with an estimated 1.034 million new cases in 2015, and the third-highest cause of cancer deaths, estimated at 785,558, in 2014. Early diagnosis and treatment greatly affect the survival rate in patients with GC: the 5‐year survival rate of early GC reaches 90%‐95%, while the mortality rate significantly increases if GC develops to the late stage. Recently, studies for the role of RhoA in the diseases have become a hot topic, especially in the development of tumors. A study found that RhoA can regulate actin polymerization, cell adhesion, motor-myosin, cell transformation, and the ability to participate in the activities of cell movement, proliferation, migration, which are closely related to the invasion and metastasis of tumor cells. However, the specific role of RhoA in tumor cells remains to be studied. Therefore, our current study aimed to briefly review the role of RhoA in GC, especially for its associated signaling pathways involved in the GC progression.

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EB1 Restricts Breast Cancer Cell Invadopodia Formation and Matrix Proteolysis via FAK

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells10020388 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 388

Author(s):

Brice Chanez ◽

Kevin Ostacolo ◽

Ali Badache ◽

Sylvie Thuault

Keyword(s):

Breast Cancer ◽

Cancer Cell ◽

Cell Invasion ◽

Focal Adhesions ◽

Matrix Degradation ◽

Cancer Cell Invasion ◽

Wild Type ◽

Spatial Regulation ◽

Invadopodia Formation

Regulation of microtubule dynamics by plus-end tracking proteins (+TIPs) plays an essential role in cancer cell migration. However, the role of +TIPs in cancer cell invasion has been poorly addressed. Invadopodia, actin-rich protrusions specialized in extracellular matrix degradation, are essential for cancer cell invasion and metastasis, the leading cause of death in breast cancer. We, therefore, investigated the role of the End Binding protein, EB1, a major hub of the +TIP network, in invadopodia functions. EB1 silencing increased matrix degradation by breast cancer cells. This was recapitulated by depletion of two additional +TIPs and EB1 partners, APC and ACF7, but not by the knockdown of other +TIPs, such as CLASP1/2 or CLIP170. The knockdown of Focal Adhesion Kinase (FAK) was previously proposed to similarly promote invadopodia formation as a consequence of a switch of the Src kinase from focal adhesions to invadopodia. Interestingly, EB1-, APC-, or ACF7-depleted cells had decreased expression/activation of FAK. Remarkably, overexpression of wild type FAK, but not of FAK mutated to prevent Src recruitment, prevented the increased degradative activity induced by EB1 depletion. Overall, we propose that EB1 restricts invadopodia formation through the control of FAK and, consequently, the spatial regulation of Src activity.

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