title: RASSF1A Directly Antagonizes RhoA Activity through the Assembly of a Smurf1-Mediated Destruction Complex to Suppress Tumorigenesis.
abstract: RASSF1A is a tumor suppressor implicated in many tumorigenic processes; however, the basis for its tumor suppressor functions are not fully understood. Here we show that RASSF1A is a novel antagonist of protumorigenic RhoA activity. Direct interaction between the C-terminal amino acids (256-277) of RASSF1A and active GTP-RhoA was critical for this antagonism. In addition, interaction between the N-terminal amino acids (69-82) of RASSF1A and the ubiquitin E3 ligase Smad ubiquitination regulatory factor 1 (Smurf1) disrupted GTPase activity by facilitating Smurf1-mediated ubiquitination of GTP-RhoA. We noted that the RhoA-binding domain of RASSF1A displayed high sequence homology with Rho-binding motifs in other RhoA effectors, such as Rhotekin. As predicted on this basis, RASSF1A competed with Rhotekin to bind RhoA and to block its activation. RASSF1A mutants unable to bind RhoA or Smurf1 failed to suppress RhoA-induced tumor cell proliferation, drug resistance, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, migration, invasion, and metastasis. Clinically, expression levels of RASSF1A and RhoA were inversely correlated in many types of primary and metastatic tumors and tumor cell lines. Collectively, our findings showed how RASSF1A may suppress tumorigenesis by intrinsically inhibiting the tumor-promoting activity of RhoA, thereby illuminating the potential mechanistic consequences of RASSF1A inactivation in many cancers. Cancer Res; 76(7); 1847-59. ©2016 AACR.
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Min-Goo
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Seong-In
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Kyung-Phil
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Soon-Ki
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Byung-Kyu
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Ryu
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Ick-Young
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jeong-Kook
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Life Sciences, Korea University, Seoul, Korea. chi6302@korea.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sung-Gil
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Chi
mesh_terms: D063646:Carcinogenesis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D014162:Transfection; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C411762:RASSF1 protein, human; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; C498342:SMURF1 protein, human; D044767:Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases; D020742:rhoA GTP-Binding Protein