Ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 inhibits migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells

RhoBTB2, or Deleted in Breast Cancer 2 (DBC2), identified as a candidate tumor suppressor gene for breast cancer and other human malignancies, is an atypical member of a novel gene family encoding small GTPases. In this study, we found that ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 inhibits the migration and invasion of the human metastatic breast cancer cell lines MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 in a dose-dependent manner. Western blotting analysis revealed that ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 induces a significant increase in the breast cancer metastasis suppressor, BRMS1. siRNA suppression of BRMS1 expression markedly reversed the inhibitory effects of RhoBTB2 on the migration and invasion abilities of both cell lines. Ezrin is a member of the ezrin-radixin-moesin cytoskeleton-associated protein family and is a key signaling molecule that regulates cancer migration and invasion. Western blotting analysis demonstrated that ectopic expression of RhoBTB2 results in decreased phosphorylation of ezrin and Akt2 in both MDA-MB-231 and MDA-MB-435 cells. Therefore, we conclude that up-regulation of the breast cancer metastasis suppressor BRMS1 and down-regulation of the phosphorylation of the cancer metastasis-related gene, ezrin, contributed to RhoBTB2-induced inhibition of metastatic breast carcinoma cell migration and invasion. Our findings suggest that understanding RhoBTB2-mediated migration and suppression of invasion is critical to the development of new therapies designed to prevent and treat patients with breast cancer metastasis.