Abstract 3122: PTEN loss disrupts the actin cortex to promote tubulin microtentacle formation and increased metastatic potential
Authors: Vitolo Michele I. , Boggs Amanda E. , Thompson Keyata , Whipple Rebecca A. , Yoon Jennifer R. , Slovic Jana , Charpentier Monica S. , Matrone Michael A. , Martin Stuart S. 
Published: June 2012

Breast cancer is the most frequent malignancy in women, and although many breast cancers are curable via surgery, approximately one quarter maintain a latent and insidious characteristic of slow growth with early metastasis. The loss of the tumor suppressor PTEN has been associated with breast cancer stage, lymph node status, and disease-related death, and the high rate of loss in primary tumors suggests a potential role in initiation and/or progression of the disease. However, specific cellular alterations in human breast epithelium controlled by PTEN inactivation, which lead to an increased metastatic phenotype, remain poorly defined. We have recently determined that PTEN expression loss leads to the production of long, dynamic, tubulin-based membrane protrusions upon detachment, which increase in frequency, number and length per cell compared to their isogenic, PTEN-expressing parental counterparts. These novel structures, termed microtentacles (McTNs), are structurally distinct from classical actin-based extensions of adherent cells, persist for days in breast tumor lines that are resistant to anoikis, and aid in the reattachment to matrix or cell monolayers and homo- and heterotypic aggregation. McTNs form when the balance of cytoskeletal forces shifts. In order to control morphology, normal cells counteract the expansion of microtubules with tension from the actin cortex. However, altering the balance between microtubules and actin has serious implications for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) dissemination, as metastatically efficient CTCs have been observed to avoid shear-induced fragmentation by undergoing sphere-to-cylinder shape transformations within capillaries. We, therefore, tested the hypothesis that PTEN loss disrupts the actin cortex to allow the increased production of McTNs. We determined that suspended PTEN-null mammary epithelial cells maintained elevated activation of the PI3K/Akt and MAPK pathways and apoptotic resistance to cell rounding and matrix detatchment, but neither activated pathway was responsible for the increased McTNs in these cells. The McTNs produced in the PTEN-null cells aid in cell reattachment, spreading, and homotypic aggregation, and Western blot analysis has proven that the PTEN-null cells show reduced inactivation of cofilin, an actin-binding protein known to sever actin filaments. Thus, the actin cytoskeleton in the PTEN-null cells contains more depolymerized actin, weakening the actin cortex. The combination of apoptotic resistance, the weakening of the actin cortex, and enhanced McTN formation due to PTEN loss may have important consequences for facilitating tumor cell extravasation and efficient adherence in metastatic sites.

Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3122. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3122