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Genetically activated kinases have been attractive therapeutic targets in cancer due to the relative ease of developing tumorspecific treatment strategies for them. To discover novel putative oncogenic kinases, we identified 26 genes commonly amplified and overexpressed in breast cancer and subjected them to a lentiviral shRNA cell viability screen in a panel of breast cancer cell lines. Here, we report that CLK2, a kinase that phosphorylates SR proteins involved in splicing, acts as an oncogene in breast cancer. Deregulated alternative splicing patterns are commonly observed in human cancers but the underlying mechanisms and functional relevance are still largely unknown. CLK2 is amplified and overexpressed in a significant fraction of breast tumors. Downregulation of CLK2 inhibits breast cancer growth in cell culture and in xenograft models and it enhances cell migration and invasion. Loss of CLK2 in luminal breast cancer cells leads to the upregulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes and a switch to mesenchymal splice variants of several genes, including ENAH (MENA). These results imply that therapeutic targeting of CLK2 may be used to modulate EMT splicing patterns and to inhibit breast tumor growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetically activated kinases have been attractive therapeutic targets in cancer due to the relative ease of developing tumor-specific treatment strategies for them. To discover novel putative oncogenic kinases, we identified 26 genes commonly amplified and overexpressed in breast cancer and subjected them to a lentiviral shRNA cell viability screen in a panel of breast cancer cell lines. Here, we report that CLK2, a kinase that phosphorylates SR proteins involved in splicing, acts as an oncogene in breast cancer. Deregulated alternative splicing patterns are commonly observed in human cancers but the underlying mechanisms and functional relevance are still largely unknown. CLK2 is amplified and overexpressed in a significant fraction of breast tumors. Downregulation of CLK2 inhibits breast cancer growth in cell culture and in xenograft models and it enhances cell migration and invasion. Loss of CLK2 in luminal breast cancer cells leads to the upregulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related genes and a switch to mesenchymal splice variants of several genes, including ENAH (MENA). These results imply that therapeutic targeting of CLK2 may be used to modulate EMT splicing patterns and to inhibit breast tumor growth., (©2015 American Association for Cancer Research.)

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has become a staple of the microfluidics community by virtue of its simple fabrication process and material attributes, such as gas permeability, optical transparency, and flexibility. As microfluidic systems are put toward biological problems and increasingly utilized as cell culture platforms, the material properties of PDMS must be considered in a biological context. Two properties of PDMS were addressed in this study: the leaching of uncured oligomers from the polymer network into microchannel media, and the absorption of small, hydrophobic molecules (i.e. estrogen) from serum-containing media into the polymer bulk. Uncured PDMS oligomers were detectable via MALDI-MS in microchannel media both before and after Soxhlet extraction of PDMS devices in ethanol. Additionally, PDMS oligomers were identified in the plasma membranes of NMuMG cells cultured in PDMS microchannels for 24 hours. Cells cultured in extracted microchannels also contained a detectable amount of uncured PDMS. It was shown that MCF-7 cells seeded directly on PDMS inserts were responsive to hydrophilic prolactin but not hydrophobic estrogen, reflecting its specificity for absorbing small, hydrophobic molecules; and the presence of PDMS floating in wells significantly reduced cellular response to estrogen in a serum-dependent manner. Quantification of estrogen via ELISA revealed that microchannel estrogen partitioned rapidly into the surrounding PDMS to a ratio of approximately 9:1. Pretreatments such as blocking with serum or pre-absorbing estrogen for 24 hours did not affect estrogen loss from PDMS-based microchannels. These findings highlight the importance of careful consideration of culture system properties when determining an appropriate environment for biological experiments.

Insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-II is a required intermediate for prolactin-induced up-regulation of cyclin D1 and proliferation in normal murine mammary epithelial cells in vivo and in vitro. However, we have recently shown that prolactin can rapidly induce cyclin D1 protein expression and subsequent proliferation in the MCF-7 human breast cancer cell line, suggesting that prolactin actions can be independent of IGFs in breast disease. Here, we investigate the relationship between these factors and show that prolactin up-regulated transcript levels of both IGF-I and IGF-II, but only after increases in cyclin D1 protein were observed. Moreover, prolactin increased cyclin D1 in the presence of the IGF-I receptor neutralizing antibody alphaIR3. However, on cotreatment, IGF-I and prolactin elicited cooperative phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 and protein kinase B/AKT, but not signal transducer and activator of transcription 5. This interaction extended to increased activation of activating protein-1 enhancer elements, phosphorylation of glycogen synthase kinase 3beta, induction of cyclin D1, and ultimately, increased cell number. It also increased invasive behavior, which correlated with elevated matrix metalloproteinase-2 transcript levels. Interestingly, prolactin augmented phosphorylation at Tyr(1135) and Tyr(1136) of IGF-I receptor on cotreatment with IGF-I, although prolactin alone had no effect. Together, these data indicate that strong cooperative cross talk between prolactin and IGF-I augments biological processes associated with neoplastic progression, with implications for therapeutic strategies.