Blockade of the short form of prolactin receptor induces FOXO3a/EIF-4EBP1–mediated cell death in uterine cancer

Yunfei Wen, Ying Wang, Anca Chelariu-Raicu, Elaine Stur, Yuan Liu, Sara Corvigno, Faith Bartsch, Lauren Redfern, Behrouz Zand, Yu Kang, Jinsong Liu, Keith Baggerly, Anil K. Sood

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Abnormal activity of human prolactin (PRL) and its membrane-associated receptor (PRLR) contributes to the progression of uterine carcinoma. However, the underlying mechanisms are not well understood, and current means of targeting the PRL/PRLR axis in uterine cancer are limited. Our integrated analyses using The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases demonstrated that a short form of PRLR (PRLR_SF) is the isoform predominantly expressed in human uterine cancers; expression of this PRLR_SF was elevated in uterine cancers in comparison with cancer-free uterine tissues. We hypothesized that the overexpression of PRLR_SF in uterine cancer cells contributes, in part, to the oncogenic activity of the PRL/PRLR axis. Next, we employed G129R, an antagonist of human PRL, to block the PRL/PRLR axis in both PTENwt and PTENmut orthotopic mouse models of uterine cancer. In comparison with control groups, treatment with G129R as monotherapy or in combination with paclitaxel resulted in a significant reduction of growth and progression of orthotopic uterine tumors. Results from protein profiling of uterine cancer cells and in vivo tumors revealed a set of new downstream targets for G129R. Our results showed that G129R induced sub-G0 population arrest, decreased nascent protein synthesis, and initiated FOXO3a/EIF-4EBP1–mediated cell death in both PTENwt and PTENmut uterine cancer cells. Collectively, our results show a unique pattern of PRLR_SF expression predominantly in uterine cancer. Moreover, FOXO3a and EIF-4EBP1 are important mediators of cell death following G129R treatment in uterine cancer models.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1943-1954
Number of pages12
JournalMolecular cancer therapeutics
Volume19
Issue number9
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 1 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Oncology
  • Cancer Research

MD Anderson CCSG core facilities

  • Flow Cytometry and Cellular Imaging Facility
  • Functional Proteomics Reverse Phase Protein Array Core
  • Bioinformatics Shared Resource

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