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Nuclear translocation of IGF-1R via p150Glued and an importin-β/RanBP2-dependent pathway in cancer cells

Oncogene volume 34, pages 2227–2238 (2015)Cite this article

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A Correction to this article was published on 08 December 2022

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Abstract

Mounting evidence has shown that the insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R) has critical roles in cancer cell growth. This has prompted pharmacological companies to develop agents targeting the receptor. Surprisingly, clinical trials using specific IGF-1R antibodies have, however, revealed disappointing results. Further understanding of the role of IGF-1R in cancer cells is therefore necessary for development of efficient therapeutic strategies. Recently, we showed that IGF-1R is sumoylated and translocated into the cell nucleus where it activates gene transcription. Several other studies have confirmed our findings and it has been reported that nuclear IGF-1R (nIGF-1R) has prognostic and predictive impact in cancer. To increase the understanding of IGF-1R in cancer cells, we here present the first study that proposes a pathway by which IGF-1R translocates into the cell nucleus. We could demonstrate that IGF-1R first associates with the dynactin subunit p150Glued, which transports the receptor to the nuclear pore complex, where it co-localizes with importin-β followed by association with RanBP2. Sumoylation of IGF-1R seems to be required for interaction with RanBP2, which in turn may serve as the SUMO E3 ligase. In the context of sumoylation, we provided evidence that it may favor nIGF-1R accumulation by increasing the stability of the receptor. Taken together, topographic and functional interactions between dynactin, importin-β and RanBP2 are involved in nuclear translocation of IGF-1R. Our results provide new understanding of IGF-1R in cancer, which in turn may contribute to development of new therapeutic strategies.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Swedish Cancer Foundation, the Swedish Research Council, the Cancer Society in Stockholm, the Swedish Children Cancer Society, the Stockholm County Council and the Karolinska Institutet.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Oncology and Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden

    S Packham, D Warsito, Y Lin, B Sehat & O Larsson

  2. Department of Molecular Biosciences, Stockholm University, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

    S Sadi & R Karlsson

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  1. S Packham
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Correspondence to S Packham.

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Packham, S., Warsito, D., Lin, Y. et al. Nuclear translocation of IGF-1R via p150Glued and an importin-β/RanBP2-dependent pathway in cancer cells. Oncogene 34, 2227–2238 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2014.165

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