Nischarin regulates focal adhesion and Invadopodia formation in breast cancer cells

BACKGROUND: During metastasis, tumor cells move through the tracks of extracellular matrix (ECM). Focal adhesions (FAs) are the protein complexes that link the cell cytoskeleton to the ECM and their presence is necessary for cell attachment. The tumor suppressor Nischarin interacts with a number of signaling proteins such as Integrin α5, PAK1, LIMK1, LKB1, and Rac1 to prevent cancer cell migration. Although previous findings have shown that Nischarin exerts this migratory inhibition by interacting with other proteins, the effects of these interactions on the entire FA machinery are unknown. METHODS: RT-PCR, Western Blotting, invadopodia assays, and immunofluorescence were used to examine FA gene expression and determine whether Nischarin affects cell attachment, as well as the proteins that regulate it. RESULTS: Our data show that Nischarin prevents cell migration and invasion by altering the expression of key focal adhesion proteins. Furthermore, we have found that Nischarin-expressing cells have reduced ability to attach the ECM, which in turn leads to a decrease in invadopodia-mediated matrix degradation. CONCLUSIONS: These experiments demonstrate an important role of Nischarin in regulating cell attachment, which adds to our understanding of the early events of the metastatic process in breast cancer. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s12943-018-0764-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.