title: Parkin regulates paclitaxel sensitivity in breast cancer via a microtubule-dependent mechanism.
abstract: Parkin is an E3 ubiquitin ligase encoded by the Parkin gene (also called PARK2, located at 6q25.2-q27) and is involved in the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease and the development of cancer. Recently, Parkin has been demonstrated to interact with the microtubule cytoskeleton. However, the biological implication of the Parkin-microtubule axis has been poorly explored. In this study, we report for the first time that Parkin modulates sensitivity of the chemotherapeutic agent paclitaxel in breast cancer, via a microtubule-dependent mechanism. Our data reveal that Parkin binds to the outer surface of microtubules and increases paclitaxel-microtubule interaction, resulting in enhanced paclitaxel-induced microtubule assembly and stabilization. Our data further show that Parkin promotes the activity of paclitaxel to trigger multinucleation and apoptosis, rendering breast cancer cells more sensitive to this drug. Moreover, Parkin expression correlates with the pathological response of tumours to preoperative paclitaxel-containing chemotherapy. In addition, expression of Parkin also correlates with the sensitivity of paclitaxel in primary cultures of breast cancer cells. Our results identify Parkin as a novel mediator of paclitaxel sensitivity in breast cancer. In addition, our study suggests that patients harbouring tumours with high Parkin level would be more likely to benefit from paclitaxel-containing regimens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics and Cell Biology, College of Life Sciences, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bingbing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guoyuan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Dengwen
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jin-Tang
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017209:Apoptosis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm; D004357:Drug Synergism; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008870:Microtubules / Q000378:metabolism*; D017239:Paclitaxel / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011485:Protein Binding; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014162:Transfection; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D000972:Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; C111567:parkin protein; D017239:Paclitaxel