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How Golgi lipids drive growth factor signaling at the plasma membrane

Fachliche Zuordnung Zellbiologie
Förderung Förderung von 2009 bis 2013
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 156980886
 
Erstellungsjahr 2015

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are especially refractory to treatment due to their negative hormone receptor and ErbB2/HER2 status. Therefore, the identification of cancer-associated deregulated signaling pathways is necessary to develop improved targeted therapies. In this project we revealed that the expression of the ceramide transfer protein CERT is reduced in TNBCs. CERT transfers ceramide from the endoplasmic reticulum to the Golgi complex for conversion into sphingomyelin (SM). We provide evidence that by regulating cellular SM levels, CERT determines the signaling output of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR/ErbB1), which is upregulated in approximately 70% of TNBCs. CERT downregulation in breast cancer cells enhanced ErbB1 lateral mobility, ligand-induced autophosphorylation, internalization and chemotaxis. Together, our findings provide a link between lipid metabolism at the Golgi with signaling at the plasma membrane, thereby implicating CERT loss in the progression of TNBCs. Finally, considering that SM reduction compromises Fas/CD95 death receptor activation, CERT downregulation is likely to have a broad impact on cellular signalling characteristics, which are not restricted to the EGFR/ErbB1.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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