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δ-Catenin, a Wnt/β-catenin modulator, reveals inducible mutagenesis promoting cancer cell survival adaptation and metabolic reprogramming

Oncogene volume 34, pages 1542–1552 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Mutations of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway has essential roles in development and cancer. Although β-catenin and adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene mutations are well established and are known to drive tumorigenesis, discoveries of mutations in other components of the pathway lagged, which hinders the understanding of cancer mechanisms. Here we report that δ-catenin (gene designation: CTNND2), a primarily neural member of the β-catenin superfamily that promotes canonical Wnt/β-catenin/LEF-1-mediated transcription, displays exonic mutations in human prostate cancer and promotes cancer cell survival adaptation and metabolic reprogramming. When overexpressed in cells derived from prostate tumor xenografts, δ-catenin gene invariably gives rise to mutations, leading to sequence disruptions predicting functional alterations. Ectopic δ-catenin gene integrating into host chromosomes is locus nonselective. δ-Catenin mutations promote tumor development in mouse prostate with probasin promoter (ARR2PB)-driven, prostate-specific expression of Myc oncogene, whereas mutant cells empower survival advantage upon overgrowth and glucose deprivation. Reprogramming energy utilization accompanies the downregulation of glucose transporter-1 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase cleavage while preserving tumor type 2 pyruvate kinase expression. δ-Catenin mutations increase β-catenin translocation to the nucleus and hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF-1α) expression. Therefore, introducing δ-catenin mutations is an important milestone in prostate cancer metabolic adaptation by modulating β-catenin and HIF-1α signaling under glucose shortage to amplify its tumor-promoting potential.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Joani Zary Oswald for technical assistance. This work was supported, in part, by DOD Grant PC040569 (to QL), NIH Grants CA111891 and CA165202 (to QL), ES016888 (to Y-HC) and DK073488 and DK074825 (to PDN).

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Author notes

  1. J Nopparat and J Zhang: These authors contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    J Nopparat, J Zhang, Y-H Chen, J M Fan, C Boykin & Q Lu

  2. College of Life Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    J-P Lu

  3. Leo Jenkins Cancer Center, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    Y-H Chen & Q Lu

  4. Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

    Y-H Chen & Q Lu

  5. Department of Kinesiology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    D Zheng & P D Neufer

  6. East Carolina Diabetes and Obesity Institute, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    D Zheng & P D Neufer

  7. Department of Physiology, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    P D Neufer

  8. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, USA

    H Hong

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Correspondence to Q Lu.

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JN, JZ, J-PL, DZ, JF, HH and CB declare no conflict of interest. QL, Y-HC and PDN are funded by the NIH.

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Nopparat, J., Zhang, J., Lu, JP. et al. δ-Catenin, a Wnt/β-catenin modulator, reveals inducible mutagenesis promoting cancer cell survival adaptation and metabolic reprogramming. Oncogene 34, 1542–1552 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2014.89

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/onc.2014.89

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