Abstract 5180: RNAi-mediated diminution of myoferlin increases adhesion of breast cancer cells

Proceedings: AACR 103rd Annual Meeting 2012‐‐ Mar 31‐Apr 4, 2012; Chicago, IL Introduction: Ferlins are a family of proteins that play a variety of roles associated with plasma membrane dynamics in eukaryotes, including plasma membrane repair, regulation of membrane expression of receptors, and endocytosis. Dysferlin was recently reported to regulate platelet endothelial cellular adhesion molecule-1 (PECAM-1) in endothelial cells (1). We have shown that ablation of myoferlin (MYOF) in breast tumor cells attenuates invasion in vitro (in review, J Cell Sci). Moreover, loss of MYOF was found to be associated with reduced phosphorylation of a number of receptor tyrosine kinases (in press, PNAS), and others have reported on the role of MYOF in tyrosine kinase receptors expression at the plasma membrane (2). These results prompted us to hypothesize that MYOF may be involved in cell-matrix adhesion. Methods & Results: We used lentiviral-mediated RNA interference (RNAi) gene silencing to generate stable MYOF-deficient MDA-MB-231 cells and confirmed MYOF reduction with immunoblotting and qRT-PCR. RNAi control cells were generated in tandem with a non-human gene targeting construct. Relative adhesion and spreading of the wild-type, control, and MYOF-deficient epithelial cells were evaluated using a real-time electrical impedance measurement system (xCELLigence, Roche Applied Science). Results show a significant increase in the adhesion and spreading of the MYOF-deficient cells in comparision to wild-type and control cells. A trypsin assay developed using the same electrical impedance system demonstrated greater adhesion strength in the MYOF-deficient cells. This was measured by the duration of time necessary to reduce the pre-trypsin-treatment impedance by one-half. These results were further validated using a conventional parallel plate device, in which MYOF-deficient cells were found to be more adherent than controls when subjected to a range of shear stresses (1-10 dynes/cm2). PCR array screening of extracellular matrix related genes (SABiosciences) in MYOF-deficient and RNAi control MDA-MB-231 cells indicated that intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1/CD54) and vitronectin mRNA levels are increased following MYOF-diminution, and may potentially contribute to the mechanism behind the altered adhesion in MYOF-deficient cells. Conclusion: Myoferlin is important for the regulation of breast cancer epithelial cell adhesion. Since dysregulation of adhesion is often associated with cancer invasion and metastasis, myoferlin may play a role in these processes in breast carcinoma. (1) Sharma A, Yu C, Leung C, Trane A, Lau M, Utokaparch S, et al. A new role for the muscle repair protein dysferlin in endothelial cell adhesion and angiogenesis. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 2010 Nov;30 (11):2196-204. (2) Yu C, Sharma A, Trane A, Utokaparch S, Leung C, Bernatchez P. Myoferlin gene silencing decreases Tie-2 expression in vitro and angiogenesis in vivo. Vascul Pharmacol 2011 May 6. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 5180. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-5180