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Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons

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Full-Text Articles in Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology

P-Rex1 Promotes Resistance To Vegf/Vegfr-Targeted Therapy In Prostate Cancer, Hira Lal Goel, Bryan M. Pursell, Leonard D. Shultz, Dale L. Greiner, Rolf A. Brekken, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Arthur M. Mercurio Aug 2016

P-Rex1 Promotes Resistance To Vegf/Vegfr-Targeted Therapy In Prostate Cancer, Hira Lal Goel, Bryan M. Pursell, Leonard D. Shultz, Dale L. Greiner, Rolf A. Brekken, Craig W. Vander Kooi, Arthur M. Mercurio

Arthur M. Mercurio

Autocrine VEGF signaling is critical for sustaining prostate and other cancer stem cells (CSCs), and it is a potential therapeutic target, but we observed that CSCs isolated from prostate tumors are resistant to anti-VEGF (bevacizumab) and anti-VEGFR (sunitinib) therapy. Intriguingly, resistance is mediated by VEGF/neuropilin signaling, which is not inhibited by bevacizumab and sunitinib, and it involves the induction of P-Rex1, a Rac GEF, and consequent Rac1-mediated ERK activation. This induction of P-Rex1 is dependent on Myc. CSCs isolated from the PTEN(pc-/-) transgenic model of prostate cancer exhibit Rac1-dependent resistance to bevacizumab. Rac1 inhibition or P-Rex1 downregulation increases the sensitivity …


A Laminin 511 Matrix Is Regulated By Taz And Functions As The Ligand For The Alpha6bbeta1 Integrin To Sustain Breast Cancer Stem Cells, Cheng Chang, Hira Lal Goel, Huijie Gao, Bryan M. Pursell, Leonard D. Shultz, Dale L. Greiner, Sulev Ingerpuu, Manuel Patarroyo, Shiliang Cao, Elgene Lim, Junhao Mao, Karen Kulju. Mckee, Peter D. Yurchenco, Arthur M. Mercurio May 2015

A Laminin 511 Matrix Is Regulated By Taz And Functions As The Ligand For The Alpha6bbeta1 Integrin To Sustain Breast Cancer Stem Cells, Cheng Chang, Hira Lal Goel, Huijie Gao, Bryan M. Pursell, Leonard D. Shultz, Dale L. Greiner, Sulev Ingerpuu, Manuel Patarroyo, Shiliang Cao, Elgene Lim, Junhao Mao, Karen Kulju. Mckee, Peter D. Yurchenco, Arthur M. Mercurio

Arthur M. Mercurio

Understanding how the extracellular matrix impacts the function of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is a significant but poorly understood problem. We report that breast CSCs produce a laminin (LM) 511 matrix that promotes self-renewal and tumor initiation by engaging the alpha6Bbeta1 integrin and activating the Hippo transducer TAZ. Although TAZ is important for the function of breast CSCs, the mechanism is unknown. We observed that TAZ regulates the transcription of the alpha5 subunit of LM511 and the formation of a LM511 matrix. These data establish a positive feedback loop involving TAZ and LM511 that contributes to stemness in breast cancer.