Met–HER3 crosstalk supports proliferation via MPZL3 in MET-amplified cancer cells

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are recognized as targets of precision medicine in human cancer upon their gene amplification or constitutive activation, resulting in increased downstream signal complexity including heterotypic crosstalk with other RTKs. The Met RTK exhibits such reciprocal crosstalk with several members of the human EGFR (HER) family of RTKs when amplified in cancer cells. We show that Met signaling converges on HER3–tyrosine phosphorylation across a panel of seven MET-amplified cancer cell lines and that HER3 is required for cancer cell expansion and oncogenic capacity in vitro and in vivo. Gene expression analysis of HER3-depleted cells identified MPZL3, encoding a single-pass transmembrane protein, as HER3-dependent effector in multiple MET-amplified cancer cell lines. MPZL3 interacts with HER3 and MPZL3 loss phenocopies HER3 loss in MET-amplified cells, while MPZL3 overexpression can partially rescue proliferation upon HER3 depletion. Together, these data support an oncogenic role for a HER3–MPZL3 axis in MET-amplified cancers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00018-022-04149-w.