J Biol Chem. 2019 Apr 08. pii: jbc.RA118.005953. [Epub ahead of print]
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are cellular byproducts produced from metabolism and also anticancer agents, such as ionizing irradiation and chemotherapy drugs. The ROS hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has high rates of production in cancer cells due to their rapid proliferation. ROS oxidize DNA, protein, and lipids, causing oxidative stress in cancer cells and making them vulnerable to other stresses. Therefore, cancer cell survival relies on maintaining ROS-induced stress at tolerable levels. Hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR or c-MET) is a receptor tyrosine kinase overexpressed in malignant cancer types, including breast cancer. Full-length c-MET triggers a signal transduction cascade from the plasma membrane that, through downstream signaling proteins, up-regulates cell proliferation and migration. Recently, c-MET was shown to interact and phosphorylate poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) in the nucleus and to induce PARP inhibitor resistance. However, it remains unclear how c-MET moves from the cell membrane to the nucleus. Here, we demonstrate that H2O2 induces retrograde transport of membrane-associated full-length c-MET into the nucleus of human MCF10A and MCF12A or primary breast cancer cells. We further show that knocking down either coatomer protein complex subunit gamma 1 (COPG1) or Sec61 translocon beta subunit (SEC61β) attenuates the accumulation of full-length nuclear c-MET. However, a c-MET kinase inhibitor did not block nuclear c-MET transport. Moreover, nuclear c-MET interacted with Ku proteins in breast cancer cells, suggesting a role of full-length nuclear c-MET in ROS-induced DNA damage repair. We conclude that a membrane-bound retrograde vesicle transport mechanism facilitates membrane-to-nucleus transport of c-MET in breast cancer cells.
Keywords: breast cancer; c-MET; hepatocyte growth factor receptor (HGFR); hydrogen peroxide; nuclear transport; nucleus; reactive oxygen species (ROS); receptor tyrosine kinase; vesicle trafficking