Calmodulin mediates Fas-induced FADD-independent survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells via activation of Src-Extracellular Signal-regulated Kinase (ERK)

Kaiyu Yuan, Gu Jing, Jianfeng Chen, Hui Liu, Kui Zhang, Yuebin Li, Hui Wu, Jay M. McDonald, Yabing Chen

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

41 Scopus citations

Abstract

Pancreatic cancer remains a devastating malignancy with a poor prognosis and is largely resistant to current therapies. To understand the resistance of pancreatic tumors to Fas death receptor-induced apoptosis, we investigated the molecular mechanisms of Fas-activated survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. We found that knockdown of the Fas-associated protein with death domain (FADD), the adaptor that mediates downstream signaling upon Fas activation, rendered Fas-sensitive MiaPaCa-2 and BxPC-3 pancreatic cells resistant to Fasinduced apoptosis. By contrast, Fas activation promoted the survival of the FADD knockdown MiaPaCa-2 and BxPC-3 cells in a concentration-dependent manner. The pharmacological inhibitor of ERK, PD98059, abrogated Fas-promoted cell survival in FADD knockdown MiaPaCa-2 and BxPC-3 cells. Furthermore, increased phosphorylation of Src was demonstrated to mediate Fas-induced ERK activation and cell survival. Immunoprecipitation of Fas in the FADD knockdown cells identified the presence of increased calmodulin, Src, and phosphorylated Src in the Fas-associated protein complex upon Fas activation. Trifluoperazine, a calmodulin antagonist, inhibited Fas-induced recruitment of calmodulin, Src, and phosphorylated Src. Consistently, trifluoperazine blocked Fas-promoted cell survival. A direct interaction of calmodulin and Src and their binding site were identified with recombinant proteins. These results support an essential role of calmodulin in mediating Fas-induced FADD-independent activation of Src-ERK signaling pathways, which promote survival signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. Understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for the resistance of pancreatic cells to apoptosis induced by Fas-death receptor signaling may provide molecular insights into designing novel therapies to treat pancreatic tumors.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)24776-24784
Number of pages9
JournalJournal of Biological Chemistry
Volume286
Issue number28
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 15 2011
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Cell Biology

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