GSE162783
Identification of Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors promoting Lgl1 phosphorylation in glioblastoma
The protein Lgl has key roles in the regulation of cell polarity. We have shown that Lgl is inactivated by hyperphosphorylation in glioblastoma as a consequence of PTEN loss and aberrant activation of the PI 3-kinase pathway; this contributes to glioblastoma pathogenesis both by promoting invasion and repressing glioblastoma cell differentiation. Lgl is phosphorylated by atypical protein kinase C in a complex with Par6 and either activated Cdc42 or activated Rac. Here we have investigated the role of specific Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors in Lgl hyperphosphorylation in glioblastoma. We used CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout PREX1, a PI 3-kinase pathway-responsive Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor that is overexpressed in glioblastoma. Knockout of PREX1 in patient-derived glioblastoma cells resulted in a reduction in Lgl phosphorylation and this could be reversed by re-expressing PREX1. PREX1 knockout cells showed reduced motility and altered phenotype suggestive of partial neuronal differentiation; consistent with this, RNA-seq analyses of these cells identified sets of PREX1-regulated genes with roles in promoting cell motility and repressing neuronal differentiation. Knockout of PREX1 in glioblastoma cells derived from a second patient did not affect Lgl phosphorylation. These cells overexpressed a short isoform of the Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factor TIAM1; knockdown of TIAM1 in PREX1-knockout cells from this patient reduced Lgl phosphorylation. These data show that PREX1 links aberrant PI 3-kinase to Lgl phosphorylation in glioblastoma, but that TIAM1 can also promote Lgl phosphorylation in a subset of patients. While this shows redundant mechanisms for Lgl phosphorylation, PREX1 appears to have a non-redundant role in glioblastoma cell motility, as this was impaired in PREX1 knockout cells from both patients. Overall design: RNA-seq of PriGO8A human glioblastoma cells following CRISPR-mediated deletion of PREX1 and its doxycycline-inducible restoration. Samples were run in duplicate.