title: Potentiation of epidermal growth factor receptor-mediated oncogenesis by c-Src: implications for the etiology of multiple human cancers.
abstract: c-Src is a nontransforming tyrosine kinase that participates in signaling events mediated by a variety of polypeptide growth factor receptors, including the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Overexpression and continual ligand stimulation of the EGFR results in morphological transformation of cells in vitro and tumor development in vivo. Elevated levels of c-Src and the EGFR are found in a variety of human malignancies, raising the question of whether c-Src can functionally cooperate with the EGFR during tumorigenesis. To address this issue, we generated c-Src/EGFR double overexpressors and compared their proliferative and biochemical characteristics to those of single overexpressors and control cells. We found that in cells expressing high levels of receptor, c-Src potentiated DNA synthesis, growth in soft agar, and tumor formation in nude mice. Growth potentiation was associated with the formation of a heterocomplex between c-Src and activated EGFR, the appearance of a distinct tyrosyl phosphorylation on the receptor, and an enhancement of receptor substrate phosphorylation. These findings indicate that c-Src is capable of potentiating receptor-mediated tumorigenesis and suggest that synergism between c-Src and the EGFR may contribute to a more aggressive phenotype in multiple human tumors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Cancer Center, University of Virginia Health Sciences Center, Charlottesville 22908, USA.
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Maa
authors.forename: T H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Leu
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: McCarley
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Schatzman
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Parsons
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000209:etiology; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology; D004357:Drug Synergism; D066246:ErbB Receptors / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008938:Mitosis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology*; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011485:Protein Binding; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016392:Proto-Oncogene Proteins pp60(c-src) / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D066246:ErbB Receptors; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D016392:Proto-Oncogene Proteins pp60(c-src)