Morgan, EL, Scarth, JA orcid.org/0000-0002-0076-6853, Patterson, MR et al. (4 more authors) (2020) E6-mediated activation of JNK drives EGFR signalling to promote proliferation and viral oncoprotein expression in cervical cancer. Cell Death and Differentiation. ISSN 1350-9047
Abstract
Human papillomaviruses (HPV) are a major cause of malignancy worldwide, contributing to ~5% of all human cancers including almost all cases of cervical cancer and a growing number of ano-genital and oral cancers. HPV-induced malignancy is primarily driven by the viral oncogenes, E6 and E7, which manipulate host cellular pathways to increase cell proliferation and enhance cell survival, ultimately predisposing infected cells to malignant transformation. Consequently, a more detailed understanding of viral-host interactions in HPV-associated disease offers the potential to identify novel therapeutic targets. Here, we identify that the c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) signalling pathway is activated in cervical disease and in cervical cancer. The HPV E6 oncogene induces JNK1/2 phosphorylation in a manner that requires the E6 PDZ binding motif. We show that blockade of JNK1/2 signalling using small molecule inhibitors, or knockdown of the canonical JNK substrate c-Jun, reduces cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. We further demonstrate that this phenotype is at least partially driven by JNK-dependent activation of EGFR signalling via increased expression of EGFR and the EGFR ligands EGF and HB-EGF. JNK/c-Jun signalling promoted the invasive potential of cervical cancer cells and was required for the expression of the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)-associated transcription factor Slug and the mesenchymal marker Vimentin. Furthermore, JNK/c-Jun signalling is required for the constitutive expression of HPV E6 and E7, which are essential for cervical cancer cell growth and survival. Together, these data demonstrate a positive feedback loop between the EGFR signalling pathway and HPV E6/E7 expression, identifying a regulatory mechanism in which HPV drives EGFR signalling to promote proliferation, survival and EMT. Thus, our study has identified a novel therapeutic target that may be beneficial for the treatment of cervical cancer.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This item is protected by copyright, all rights reserved. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Molecular and Cellular Biology (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Medicine and Health (Leeds) > School of Medicine (Leeds) > Institute of Rheumatology & Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM) (Leeds) > Clinical Musculoskeletal Medicine (LIRMM) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Dec 2020 15:42 |
Last Modified: | 26 Jan 2021 16:23 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/s41418-020-00693-9 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:168629 |