The tumor suppressor gene phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) is frequently mutated in colon cancer. However, the potential contribution of loss of PTEN to colon cancer progression remains unclear.

In this study the research demonstrated that PTEN overexpression or knockdown in Lovo colon cancer cells decreased or increased paxillin expression, respectively. Moreover, paxillin reversed PTEN mediated inhibition of Lovo cell invasion and migration. Overexpression of PTEN in orthotropic colon cancer nude mice model inhibited tumor formation and progression. In addition, PTEN protein level was negatively correlated with that of paxillin in human colon cancer tissues. Mechanistically, they identified three NF-KappaB binding sites on paxillin promoter and confirmed that paxillin was a direct transcriptional target of NF-kappaB.

These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which PTEN inhibits the progression of colon cancer by inhibiting paxillin expression downstream of PI3K/AKT/NF-κB pathway. Thereby, PTEN/PI3K/AKT/NF-κB/paxillin signaling cascade is an attractive therapeutic target for colon cancer progression.

Reference:

Ling li Zhang, Gang Gang Mu,et al. PTEN represses colon cancer progression through inhibiting paxillin transcription via PI3K/AKT/NF-kB pathway [J].JBC, 2015, doi: 10.1074.