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Microtubule affinity‐regulating kinase 2 is associated with DNA damage response and cisplatin resistance in non‐small cell lung cancer
Author(s) -
Hubaux Roland,
Thu Kelsie L.,
Vucic Emily A.,
Pikor Larissa A.,
Kung Sonia H.Y.,
Martinez Victor D.,
Mosslemi Mitra,
BeckerSantos Daiana D.,
Gazdar Adi F.,
Lam Stephen,
Lam Wan L.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/ijc.29577
Subject(s) - lung cancer , cisplatin , cancer research , dna damage , biology , kinase , dna repair , cancer , cell cycle , medicine , pathology , microbiology and biotechnology , chemotherapy , dna , genetics
Microtubule affinity‐regulating kinases (MARKs) are involved in several cellular functions but few studies have correlated MARK kinase expression with cancer, and none have explored their role in lung cancer. In this study, we identified MARK2 as frequently disrupted by DNA hypomethylation and copy gain, resulting in concordant overexpression in independent lung tumor cohorts and we demonstrate a role for MARK2 in lung tumor biology. Manipulation of MARK2 in lung cell lines revealed its involvement in cell viability and anchorage‐independent growth. Analyses of both manipulated cell lines and clinical tumor specimens identified a potential role for MARK2 in cell cycle activation and DNA repair. Associations between MARK2 and the E2F, Myc/Max and NF‐κB pathways were identified by luciferase assays and in‐depth assessment of the NF‐κB pathway suggests a negative association between MARK2 expression and NF‐κB due to activation of non‐canonical NF‐κB signaling. Finally, we show that high MARK2 expression levels correlate with resistance to cisplatin, a standard first line chemotherapy for lung cancer. Collectively, our work supports a role for MARK2 in promoting malignant phenotypes of lung cancer and potentially modulating response to the DNA damaging chemotherapeutic, cisplatin.