title: Role of exchange protein directly activated by cAMP (EPAC1) in breast cancer cell migration and apoptosis.
abstract: Despite the current progress in cancer research and therapy, breast cancer remains the leading cause of mortality among half a million women worldwide. Migration and invasion of cancer cells are associated with prevalent tumor metastasis as well as high mortality. Extensive studies have powerfully established the role of prototypic second messenger cAMP and its two ubiquitously expressed intracellular cAMP receptors namely the classic protein kinaseA/cAMP-dependent protein kinase (PKA) and the more recently discovered exchange protein directly activated by cAMP/cAMP-regulated guanine nucleotide exchange factor (EPAC/cAMP-GEF) in cell migration, cell cycle regulation, and cell death. Herein, we performed the analysis of the Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset to evaluate the essential role of cAMP molecular network in breast cancer. We report that EPAC1, PKA, and AKAP9 along with other molecular partners are amplified in breast cancer patients, indicating the importance of this signaling network. To evaluate the functional role of few of these proteins, we used pharmacological modulators and analyzed their effect on cell migration and cell death in breast cancer cells. Hence, we report that inhibition of EPAC1 activity using pharmacological modulators leads to inhibition of cell migration and induces cell death. Additionally, we also observed that the inhibition of EPAC1 resulted in disruption of its association with the microtubule cytoskeleton and delocalization of AKAP9 from the centrosome as analyzed by in vitro imaging. Finally, this study suggests for the first time the mechanistic insights of mode of action of a primary cAMP-dependent sensor, Exchange protein activated by cAMP 1 (EPAC1), via its interaction with A-kinase anchoring protein 9 (AKAP9). This study provides a new cell signaling cAMP-EPAC1-AKAP9 direction to the development of additional biotherapeutics for breast cancer.
authors.affiliation: Brain Metastasis and NeuroVascular Disease Modeling Lab, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, NCR, India.
authors.forename: Naveen
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Host Pathogen Interactions and Disease Modeling Group, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, NCR, India.|Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Sonal
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.affiliation: International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, New Delhi, 110067, India.
authors.forename: Surbhi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dabral
authors.affiliation: Host Pathogen Interactions and Disease Modeling Group, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, NCR, India. shailja.singh@snu.edu.in.|Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. shailja.singh@snu.edu.in.
authors.forename: Shailja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.affiliation: Brain Metastasis and NeuroVascular Disease Modeling Lab, Department of Life Sciences, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, NCR, India. seema.sehrawat@snu.edu.in.|Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, 02115, USA. seema.sehrawat@snu.edu.in.
authors.forename: Seema
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sehrawat
mesh_terms: D054758:A Kinase Anchor Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D002465:Cell Movement; D000242:Cyclic AMP / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D061986:MCF-7 Cells; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D015290:Second Messenger Systems
chemical_list: D054758:A Kinase Anchor Proteins; C119719:AKAP9 protein, human; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D020662:Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factors; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C116122:RAPGEF3 protein, human; D000242:Cyclic AMP
keywords: AKAP9; Breast cancer; EPAC1; ESI-09; Microtubule; cAMP signaling