RESEARCH ARTICLE

Extracellular signal regulated kinase 5 promotes cell migration, invasion and lung metastasis in a FAK-dependent manner

  • Weiwei Jiang 1 ,
  • Fangfang Cai 1 ,
  • Huangru Xu 1 ,
  • Yanyan Lu 1 ,
  • Jia Chen 1 ,
  • Jia Liu 1 ,
  • Nini Cao 1 ,
  • Xiangyu Zhang 1 ,
  • Xiao Chen 1 ,
  • Qilai Huang 1 ,
  • Hongqin Zhuang , 1 ,
  • Zi-Chun Hua , 1,2
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  • 1. The State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, College of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210023, China
  • 2. Changzhou High-Tech Research Institute of Nanjing University and Jiangsu TargetPharma Laboratories Inc., Changzhou 213164, China

Received date: 03 Dec 2019

Accepted date: 09 Feb 2020

Published date: 15 Nov 2020

Copyright

2020 The Author(s) 2020

Abstract

This study was designed to evaluate ERK5 expression in lung cancer and malignant melanoma progression and to ascertain the involvement of ERK5 signaling in lung cancer and melanoma. We show that ERK5 expression is abundant in human lung cancer samples, and elevated ERK5 expression in lung cancer was linked to the acquisition of increased metastatic and invasive potential. Importantly, we observed a significant correlation between ERK5 activity and FAK expression and its phosphorylation at the Ser910 site. Mechanistically, ERK5 increased the expression of the transcription factor USF1, which could transcriptionally upregulate FAK expression, resulting in FAK signaling activation to promote cell migration. We also provided evidence that the phosphorylation of FAK at Ser910 was due to ERK5 but not ERK1/2, and we then suggested a role for Ser910 in the control of cell motility. In addition, ERK5 had targets in addition to FAK that regulate epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and cell motility in cancer cells. Taken together, our findings uncover a cancer metastasis-promoting role for ERK5 and provide the rationale for targeting ERK5 as a potential therapeutic approach.

Cite this article

Weiwei Jiang , Fangfang Cai , Huangru Xu , Yanyan Lu , Jia Chen , Jia Liu , Nini Cao , Xiangyu Zhang , Xiao Chen , Qilai Huang , Hongqin Zhuang , Zi-Chun Hua . Extracellular signal regulated kinase 5 promotes cell migration, invasion and lung metastasis in a FAK-dependent manner[J]. Protein & Cell, 2020 , 11(11) : 825 -845 . DOI: 10.1007/s13238-020-00701-1

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