Paxillin serine 178 phosphorylation in control of cell migration and metastasis formation through regulation of EGFR expression in breast cancer

Aim: Paxillin is a well-known multidomain scaffold protein that is involved in the regulation of cell-matrix adhesion dynamics, a process required for the tumor cell migration and invasion. Phosphorylation of the serine residue 178 requires c-Jun NH2-terminal kinase (JNK) activation, which occurs downstream of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mediated signaling and drives cell migration. In this study, we investigated the significance of paxillin Ser178 phosphorylation in breast cancer progression.Methods: We employed the rat mammary carcinoma MTLn3 cell line with which we established stabile variants of both wild type and mutant GFP-paxillin constructs. With those, we next performed several in vitro assays including cell proliferation, migration and focal adhesion dynamics. Finally, we monitored the metastatic spread of both cell line variants in an othrotopic mouse model for breast cancer.Results: Here we show that expression of the phospho-defective mutant paxillinS178A in the metastatic mammary adenocarcinoma MTLn3 cell-line significantly decreased EGF-induced cell migration, which was correlated with impaired focal adhesion dynamics. Moreover, paxillinS178A attenuated lung metastasis formation in an orthotopic In vivo mammary gland tumor/metastasis model, demonstrating the importance of JNK-mediated paxillin phosphorylation in breast cancer progression. Expression of paxillinS178A caused a decrease in EGFR expression, while re-expression of EGFR in MTLn3-paxillinS178A cells fully restored EGF-driven cell motility and focal adhesion dynamics. Furthermore, re-expression of EGFR in MTLn3-paxillinS178A rescued spontaneous metastasis from breast to lung.Conclusion: Overall our data show an important role for JNK-mediated paxillin Ser178 phosphorylation in the regulation of EGFR expression and thereby, in EGF-driven cell migration and metastasis formation