Systematic Identification of Oncogenic EGFR Interaction Partners

The Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) is a receptor tyrosine kinase that - once activated upon ligand binding - leads to receptor dimerization, recruitment of protein complexes and activation of multiple signaling cascades. The EGFR is frequently overexpressed or mutated in various cancers leading to aberrant signaling and tumor growth. Hence, identification of interaction partners that bind to mutated EGFR can help identify novel targets for drug discovery. Here, we used a systematic approach to identify novel proteins that are involved in cancerous EGFR-signaling. Using a combination of high-content imaging and a mammalian membrane two-hybrid protein-protein interaction (MaMTH) method, we identified 8 novel interaction partners of EGFR, out of which half strongly interacted with oncogenic, hyperactive EGFR variants. One of these, TACC3, stabilizes EGFR on the cell surface, which results in an increase in downstream signaling via the MAPK and AKT pathway. Depletion of TACC3 from cells using shRNA knockdown or small molecule targeting reduced mitogenic signaling in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines, suggesting that targeting TACC3 has potential as a new therapeutic approach for non-small cell lung cancer