AKT Regulates BRCA1 Stability in Response to Hormone Signaling

BRCA1, with its binding partner BARD1, regulates the cellular response to DNA damage in multiple tissues, yet inherited mutations within BRCA1 result specifically in breast and ovarian cancers. This observation, along with several other lines of evidence, suggests a functional relationship may exist between hormone signaling and BRCA1 function. Our data demonstrates that AKT activation promotes the expression of BRCA1 in response to estrogen and IGF-1 receptor signaling. Further, we have identified a novel AKT phosphorylation site in BRCA1 at S694 which is responsive to activation of these signaling pathways. This rapid increase in BRCA1 protein levels appears to occur independently of new protein synthesis and treatment with the clinically utilized proteasome inhibitor bortezomib similarly leads to a rapid increase in BRCA1 protein levels. Together, these data suggest that AKT phosphorylation of BRCA1 increases total protein expression by preventing proteasomal degradation. AKT activation also appears to support nuclear localization of BRCA1, and co-expression of activated AKT with BRCA1 decreases radiation sensitivity, suggesting this interaction has functional consequences for BRCA1's role in DNA repair. We conclude that AKT regulates BRCA1 protein stability and function through direct phosphorylation of BRCA1. Further, the responsiveness of the AKT-BRCA1 regulatory pathway to hormone signaling may, in part, underlie the tissue specificity of BRCA1 mutant cancers. Pharmacological targets within this pathway could provide strategies for modulation of BRCA1 protein, which may prove therapeutically beneficial for the treatment of breast and ovarian cancers.