Extracellular signal-regulated kinases associate with and phosphorylate DHPS to promote cell proliferation

The ERK1/2 pathway is one of the most commonly dysregulated pathways in human cancers and controls many vital cellular processes. Although many ERK1/2 kinase substrates have been identified, the diversity of ERK1/2 mediated processes suggests the existence of additional targets. Here, we identified Deoxyhypusine synthase (DHPS), an essential hypusination enzyme regulating protein translation, as a major and direct-binding protein of ERK1/2. Further experiments showed that ERK1/2 phosphorylate DHPS at Ser-233 site. The Ser-233 phosphorylation of DHPS by ERK1/2 is important for its function in cell proliferation. Moreover, we found that higher DHPS expression correlated with poor prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma and increased resistance to inhibitors of the ERK1/2 pathway. In summary, our results suggest that ERK1/2-mediated DHPS phosphorylation is an important mechanism that underlies protein translation and that DHPS expression is a potent biomarker of response to therapies targeting ERK1/2-pathway.