Abstract 133: Identification of a key region in the HER2 subdomain III required for transformation capability
Authors: Schroeder Barbara , Lugo Ghiara , Menendez Javier , Espinoza Ingrid , Lupu Ruth 
Published: August 2015

About 25% of breast carcinomas are characterized by over-expression and/or amplification of the HER2 receptor, one of four members of the HER family of receptor tyrosine kinases. The strong correlation between HER2 levels/activity with more aggressive breast cancer disease, poor prognosis as well as resistance to chemo- and endocrine therapies made it a preferred target for anti-cancer therapy. However, current treatment strategies are only partially effective and the majority of breast cancer patients who initially respond favorably rapidly develop resistance to treatments for still not fully understood reasons. Thus, novel strategies/agents are in need. Structural analyses revealed that sub-domain III in the extracellular domain (ECD) of the HER family members is responsible for dimerization. We hypothesized that disrupting the dimerization loop in the HER2-ECD sub-domain III would ultimately convert HER2 to a non-functional receptor with diminished transforming capacity. To this end, we generated a series of HER2-ECD deletion mutants located in sub-domain III and assessed their oncogenic potential compared to the HER2-wild type (WT) after their expression in MCF10A cells. Importantly, a small deletion (16 amino acids) of the HER2 extracellular domain (named HER2Δ6) abolished its homo- and hetero-dimerization and profoundly affected HER2-catalyzed activation of the HER network. Moreover, this mutant was not able to transform MCF10 cells as it failed to promote anchorage-independent growth and interfered with the activation/Tyr phosphorylation of HER1, HER2 and HER3. Compared to HER2-WT-expressing cells, the HER2α6 mutant proved to be even more effective in inhibiting the oncogenic properties of the receptor than the current drugs of choice such as Trastuzumab and Pertuzumab alone or in combination. In addition, while expression of HER2-WT conferred resistance of MCF10A cells to Paclitaxel, the HER2Δ6 variant failed to do so. To determine the molecular mechanisms underlying this behavior, we assessed the mutant and WT expressing cells lines morphologically and biochemically and demonstrated that the HER2Δ6 is absent from the plasma membrane (PM) in MCF10A cells. Interestingly, we found that the mutant receptor displayed an intracellular trafficking defect and was trapped in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). Our results reveal that the HER2-ECD bears an essential “activating” region that is indispensable for HER2-mediated oncogenic transformation. Targeting and eliminating this “activating” element in HER2 seems to provide a strong innovative approach for developing a valuable novel anti-HER2 therapeutic drug that would specifically benefit patients with HER2 positive tumors resistant to current therapies.

Citation Format: Barbara Schroeder, Ghiara Lugo, Javier Menendez, Ingrid Espinoza, Ruth Lupu. Identification of a key region in the HER2 subdomain III required for transformation capability. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 133. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-133