title: Activation of the focal adhesion kinase signal transduction pathway in cervical carcinoma cell lines and human genital epithelial cells immortalized with human papillomavirus type 18.
abstract: The inappropriate activation of protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) has been associated with initiation and progression of several types of human cancers. We therefore postulated that immortalization by DNA tumor viruses results in the induction of PTKs fundamental to these processes. An RT-PCR-based screen was thus used to identify PTKs that were abundantly expressed in HPV-18-immortalized epithelial cells and HPV-containing carcinoma cell lines. One of the genes isolated in this screen was the focal adhesion kinase (FAK; pp125FAK), a cytoplasmic protein kinase that is activated in v-src transformed cells or by stimulation with mitogenic polypeptides. FAK also becomes catalytically active upon integrin engagement with extracellular matrix proteins, such as fibronectin. We found that FAK expression and activity were significantly elevated in HPV-18 E6/E7-immortalized human genital epithelial cells relative to their primary cell counterparts. Protein expression and tyrosine phosphorylation of the putative FAK substrate, paxillin, were also notably increased upon HPV-18 immortalization of genital epithelial cells and in HPV-containing cervical carcinoma cell lines. Most significantly, these cells expressed markedly higher levels of both intracellular and extracellular fibronectin, thus providing a mechanism for activation of FAK and increased tyrosine phosphorylation of paxillin. These findings suggest a role for the integrin/FAK-mediated signaling pathway in cervical carcinogenesis and represent one of the first demonstrations of a tyrosine kinase whose activity is elevated following viral immortalization.
authors.affiliation: The Vincent T Lombardi Cancer Center, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, USA.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: McCormack
authors.forename: S E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Brazinski
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: B A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Werness
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic; D002472:Cell Transformation, Viral; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002584:Cervix Uteri / Q000166:cytology* / Q000473:pathology; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D004848:Epithelium / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D016391:Genes, src; D006801:Humans; D015603:Keratinocytes / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D027383:Papillomaviridae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D051419:Paxillin; D010750:Phosphoproteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D010766:Phosphorylation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013539:Simian virus 40 / Q000235:genetics; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; C496061:PXN protein, human; D051419:Paxillin; D010750:Phosphoproteins; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051417:Focal Adhesion Kinase 1; D051416:Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; C496050:PTK2 protein, human