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Cell motility is a critical feature of invasive tumour cells that is governed by complex signal transduction events. Particularly, the underlying mechanisms that bridge extracellular stimuli to the molecular machinery driving motility remain partially understood. Here, we show that the scaffold protein CNK2 promotes cancer cell migration by coupling the pro-metastatic receptor tyrosine kinase AXL to downstream activation of ARF6 GTPase. Mechanistically, AXL signalling induces PI3K-dependent recruitment of CNK2 to the plasma membrane. In turn, CNK2 stimulates ARF6 by associating with cytohesin ARF GEFs and with a novel adaptor protein called SAMD12. ARF6-GTP then controls motile forces by coordinating the respective activation and inhibition of RAC1 and RHOA GTPases. Significantly, genetic ablation of CNK2 or SAMD12 reduces metastasis in a mouse xenograft model. Together, this work identifies CNK2 and its partner SAMD12 as key components of a novel pro-motility pathway in cancer cells, which could be targeted in metastasis. Cancer cell motility is necessary for cell invasion and metastasis. Here, the authors identify CNK2 as a key mediator of cancer cell motility, linking extracellular stimuli via AXL signalling and downstream activation of ARF6 GTPase, resulting in increased metastasis in preclinical models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The Ras-dependent ERK1/2 MAP kinase signaling pathway plays a central role in cell proliferation control and is frequently activated in human colorectal cancer. Small-molecule inhibitors of MEK1/MEK2 are therefore viewed as attractive drug candidates for the targeted therapy of this malignancy. However, the exact contribution of MEK1 and MEK2 to the pathogenesis of colorectal cancer remains to be established. Methods Wild type and constitutively active forms of MEK1 and MEK2 were ectopically expressed by retroviral gene transfer in the normal intestinal epithelial cell line IEC-6. We studied the impact of MEK1 and MEK2 activation on cellular morphology, cell proliferation, survival, migration, invasiveness, and tumorigenesis in mice. RNA interference was used to test the requirement for MEK1 and MEK2 function in maintaining the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells. Results We found that expression of activated MEK1 or MEK2 is sufficient to morphologically transform intestinal epithelial cells, dysregulate cell proliferation and induce the formation of high-grade adenocarcinomas after orthotopic transplantation in mice. A large proportion of these intestinal tumors metastasize to the liver and lung. Mechanistically, activation of MEK1 or MEK2 up-regulates the expression of matrix metalloproteinases, promotes invasiveness and protects cells from undergoing anoikis. Importantly, we show that silencing of MEK2 expression completely suppresses the proliferation of human colon carcinoma cell lines, whereas inactivation of MEK1 has a much weaker effect. Conclusion MEK1 and MEK2 isoforms have similar transforming properties and are able to induce the formation of metastatic intestinal tumors in mice. Our results suggest that MEK2 plays a more important role than MEK1 in sustaining the proliferation of human colorectal cancer cells.

Oncogenic NRAS mutations are frequently identified in human myeloid leukemias. In mice, expression of endogenous oncogenic Nras (NrasG12D/+) in hematopoletic cells leads to expansion of myeloid progenitors, increased long-term reconstitution of bone marrow cells, and a chronic myeloproliferative neoplasm (MPN). However, acute expression of NrasG12D/+ in a pure C57BL/6 background does not induce hyperactivated granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor signaling or increased proliferation in myeloid progenitors. It is thus unclear how NrasG12D/+ signaling promotes leukemogenesis. Here, we show that hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) expressing NrasG12D/+ serve as MPN-initiating cells. They undergo moderate hyperproliferation with increased self-renewal. The aberrant NrasG12D/+ HSC function is associated with hyperactivation of ERK1/2 in HSCs. Conversely, downregulation of MEK/ERK by pharmacologic and genetic approaches attenuates the cycling of NrasG12D/+ HSCs and prevents the expansion of NrasG12D/+ HSCs and myeloid progenitors. Our data delineate critical mechanisms of oncogenic Nras signaling in HSC function and leukemogenesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells have proven to be invaluable research tools for dissecting the role of signaling pathways in embryonic development, adult physiology, and various diseases. ES cells are amenable to genetic manipulation by classical gene targeting via homologous recombination or by genome editing technologies. These cells can be used to generate genetically modified mouse models or to study the signaling circuitry regulating self-renewal and early lineage commitment. In this chapter, we describe methods used for the isolation and establishment of mouse ES cell lines from blastocyst embryos and for the measurement of ERK1/2 activity in ES cells.