2. Academic Validation
  3. RNA-binding protein p54nrb/NONO potentiates nuclear EGFR-mediated tumorigenesis of triple-negative breast cancer

RNA-binding protein p54nrb/NONO potentiates nuclear EGFR-mediated tumorigenesis of triple-negative breast cancer

  • Cell Death Dis. 2022 Jan 10;13(1):42. doi: 10.1038/s41419-021-04488-9.
Mengqin Shen  # 1,  Ruixue Zhang  # 1,  Wenzhi Jia 1,  Zongping Zhu 2,  Li Zhao 1,  Gang Huang 3 4,  Jianjun Liu 5 6
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200127, Shanghai, China.
  • 2 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Qingdao Municipal Hospital (group), 266011, Qingdao, China.
  • 3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200127, Shanghai, China. huanggang@sumhs.edu.cn.
  • 4 Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Imaging, Shanghai University of Medicine and Health Sciences, 201318, Shanghai, China. huanggang@sumhs.edu.cn.
  • 5 Department of Nuclear Medicine, Institute of Clinical Nuclear Medicine, Renji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 200127, Shanghai, China. RJnuclear@126.com.
  • 6 State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Shanghai Cancer Institute, 200127, Shanghai, China. RJnuclear@126.com.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 35013116 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-04488-9
Abstract

Nuclear-localized epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) highly correlates with the malignant progression and may be a promising therapeutic target for breast Cancer. However, molecular mechanisms of nuclear EGFR in triple-negative breast Cancer (TNBC) have not been fully elucidated. Here, we performed gene-annotation enrichment analysis for the interactors of nuclear EGFR and found that RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) were closely associated with nuclear EGFR. We further demonstrated p54nrb/NONO, one of the RBPs, significantly interacted with nuclear EGFR. NONO was upregulated in 80 paired TNBC tissues and indicated a poor prognosis. Furthermore, NONO knockout significantly inhibited TNBC proliferation in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, NONO increased the stability of nuclear EGFR and recruited CREB binding protein (CBP) and its accompanying E1A binding protein p300, thereby enhancing the transcriptional activity of EGFR. In turn, EGFR positively regulated the affinity of NONO to mRNAs of nuclear EGFR downstream genes. Furthermore, the results indicated that the nuclear EGFR/NONO complex played a critical role in tumorigenesis and chemotherapy resistance. Taken together, our findings indicate that NONO enhances nuclear EGFR-mediated tumorigenesis and may be a potential therapeutic target for TNBC patients with nuclear EGFR expression.

Figures
Products