Glioblastomas require integrin αvβ3/PAK4 signaling to escape senescence.
By: Aleksandra Franovic, Kathryn C Elliott, Laetitia Seguin, M Fernanda Camargo, Sara M Weis, David A Cheresh

Pathology and Moores Cancer Center, Moores UCSD Cancer Center.
2015-8-23; doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-0988
Abstract

Integrin αvβ3 has been implicated as a driver of aggressive and metastatic disease, and is upregulated during glioblastoma progression. Here we demonstrate that integrin αvβ3 allows glioblastoma cells to counteract senescence through a novel tissue-specific effector mechanism involving recruitment and activation of the cytoskeletal regulatory kinase PAK4. Mechanistically, targeting either αvβ3 or PAK4 led to emergence of a p21-dependent, p53-independent cell senescence phenotype. Notably, glioblastoma cells did not exhibit a similar requirement for either other integrins or additional PAK family members. Moreover, αvβ3/PAK4 dependence was not found to be critical in epithelial cancers. Taken together, our findings established that glioblastomas are selectively addicted to this pathway as a strategy to evade oncogene-induced senescence, with implications that inhibiting the αvβ3/PAK4 signaling axis may offer novel therapeutic opportunities to target this aggressive cancer.



Copyright © 2015, American Association for Cancer Research.

PMID:26297735






Copyright 2026 InterMDnet | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | System Requirements