CRKL is a critical target of Hh-GLI2 pathway in lung adenocarcinoma.
J Cell Mol Med 2021;
25:6280-6288. [PMID:
34076957 PMCID:
PMC8256351 DOI:
10.1111/jcmm.16592]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 04/16/2021] [Accepted: 04/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) is one of the important components of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and leads to many deaths every year. During the initiation and progression of the LUAD, the Hh-GLI2 pathway plays critical roles. Several components of this pathway have been shown to be amplified or overexpressed in LUAD, providing this pathway as an attractive target for therapeutics. However, a gap in our understanding of the Hh-GLI2 pathway is the identity of transcriptional targets of GLI2 that drive LUAD tumorigenesis. Here, we show that the oncogene CRKL is a direct target of GLI2. GLI2 turns on CRKL transcription through binding its second intron. Furthermore, CRKL is an essential mediator for GLI2-driven proliferation and migration of LUAD cells. Depletion of CRKL blunts Hh-GLI2 pathway-mediated cell proliferation and invasion. Lastly, we find that CRKL knockout cells are more sensitive to EGFR-TKI and chemotherapeutics. Taken together, our work here identifies a specific target for Hh-related malignancies and provides CRKL as a promising therapeutic target for LUAD.
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