Oncogenic EGFR Signaling Networks in Glioma

EGFR and downstream signaling networks contribute to the hallmark characteristics of glioma. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a transmembrane protein that regulates many fundamental cellular processes, including growth, survival, and migration. EGFR is amplified, overexpressed, or mutated in various types of cancer, resulting in the deregulation of these critical cellular processes. In this Review, which has four figures and 120 citations, we examine the mechanisms by which EGFR contributes to oncogenic transformation in an aggressive form of brain tumor (glioblastoma) and discuss the limitations of current treatment strategies. Finally, we offer an outlook on how these therapies may be improved through the use of systems biology. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a primary contributor to glioblastoma (GBM) initiation and progression. Here, we examine how EGFR and key downstream signaling networks contribute to the hallmark characteristics of GBM such as rapid cancer cell proliferation and diffused invasion. Additionally, we discuss current therapeutic options for GBM patients and elaborate on the mechanisms through which EGFR promotes chemoresistance. We conclude by offering a perspective on how the potential of integrative systems biology may be harnessed to develop safe and effective treatment strategies for this disease.

[1]  R. Mirimanoff,et al.  Radiotherapy plus concomitant and adjuvant temozolomide for glioblastoma. , 2005, The New England journal of medicine.

[2]  R. B. Montgomery,et al.  Transformational and altered signal transduction by a naturally occurring mutant EGF receptor. , 1996, Oncogene.

[3]  A. Citri,et al.  EGF–ERBB signalling: towards the systems level , 2006, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[4]  Gordon B. Mills,et al.  Derailed endocytosis: an emerging feature of cancer , 2008, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[5]  Haluk Resat,et al.  Modeling the effects of HER/ErbB1-3 coexpression on receptor dimerization and biological response. , 2006, Biophysical journal.

[6]  D. Housman,et al.  Oncogenic EGFR signaling cooperates with loss of tumor suppressor gene functions in gliomagenesis , 2009, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[7]  Eytan Domany,et al.  A module of negative feedback regulators defines growth factor signaling , 2007, Nature Genetics.

[8]  Paul S Mischel,et al.  Analysis of the phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase signaling pathway in glioblastoma patients in vivo. , 2003, Cancer research.

[9]  M. Park,et al.  From Tpr-Met to Met, tumorigenesis and tubes , 2007, Oncogene.

[10]  A. Friedman,et al.  Resistance to Tyrosine Kinase Inhibition by Mutant Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Variant III Contributes to the Neoplastic Phenotype of Glioblastoma Multiforme , 2004, Clinical Cancer Research.

[11]  P. Kleihues,et al.  Genetic pathways to primary and secondary glioblastoma. , 2007, The American journal of pathology.

[12]  John Calvin Reed,et al.  Bcl-2 family proteins and cancer , 2008, Oncogene.

[13]  Daniel A. Haber,et al.  Epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in lung cancer , 2007, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[14]  Samuel Bouyain,et al.  The extracellular region of ErbB4 adopts a tethered conformation in the absence of ligand. , 2005, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[15]  Erez M. Bublil,et al.  The EGF receptor family : spearheading a merger of signaling and therapeutics , 2007 .

[16]  Philip Chen,et al.  EGF receptor signaling enhances in vivo invasiveness of DU-145 human prostate carcinoma cells , 1996, Clinical & Experimental Metastasis.

[17]  Lewis C Cantley,et al.  The phosphoinositide 3-kinase pathway. , 2002, Science.

[18]  A. Scott,et al.  Monoclonal antibody 806 inhibits the growth of tumor xenografts expressing either the de2-7 or amplified epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) but not wild-type EGFR. , 2001, Cancer research.

[19]  A. Scott,et al.  Antitumor efficacy of cytotoxic drugs and the monoclonal antibody 806 is enhanced by the EGF receptor inhibitor AG1478 , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[20]  J R Feramisco,et al.  Enhanced Tumorigenic Behavior of Glioblastoma Cells Expressing a Truncated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Is Mediated through the Ras-Shc-Grb2 Pathway* , 1996, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[21]  B. van Deurs,et al.  EGFRvIII escapes down-regulation due to impaired internalization and sorting to lysosomes. , 2007, Carcinogenesis.

[22]  S. Lipkowitz,et al.  EGFRvIII undergoes activation-dependent downregulation mediated by the Cbl proteins , 2006, Oncogene.

[23]  O. Bogler,et al.  A common mutant epidermal growth factor receptor confers enhanced tumorigenicity on human glioblastoma cells by increasing proliferation and reducing apoptosis. , 1996, Cancer research.

[24]  A. Benabid,et al.  EGF receptor amplification and expression in human brain tumours. , 1992, European journal of cancer.

[25]  T. Beckers,et al.  Overexpression of EGFR and c‐erbB2 causes enhanced cell migration in human breast cancer cells and NIH3T3 fibroblasts , 1998, FEBS letters.

[26]  B. Kholodenko,et al.  Ligand-dependent responses of the ErbB signaling network: experimental and modeling analyses , 2007, Molecular systems biology.

[27]  Careen K. Tang,et al.  Hypophosphorylation of residue Y1045 leads to defective downregulation of EGFRvIII , 2006, Cancer biology & therapy.

[28]  Hyun-soo Cho,et al.  Structure of the Extracellular Region of HER3 Reveals an Interdomain Tether , 2002, Science.

[29]  須川 典亮 Identical splicing of aberrant epidermal growth factor receptor transcripts from amplified rearranged genes in human glioblastomas , 1992 .

[30]  A. Wells,et al.  Signalling shortcuts: cell-surface receptors in the nucleus? , 2002, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[31]  Fenghua Liu,et al.  A genome-wide screen reveals functional gene clusters in the cancer genome and identifies EphA2 as a mitogen in glioblastoma. , 2006, Cancer research.

[32]  Kimmo J Hatanpaa,et al.  Differential gene expression analysis reveals generation of an autocrine loop by a mutant epidermal growth factor receptor in glioma cells. , 2006, Cancer research.

[33]  W. Cavenee,et al.  Epidermal growth factor receptor signaling intensity determines intracellular protein interactions, ubiquitination, and internalization , 2003, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[34]  K. Makino,et al.  Nuclear localization of EGF receptor and its potential new role as a transcription factor , 2001, Nature Cell Biology.

[35]  D. Bigner,et al.  Receptor dimerization is not a factor in the signalling activity of a transforming variant epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFRvIII). , 1997, The Biochemical journal.

[36]  Kristen M. Naegle,et al.  An integrated comparative phosphoproteomic and bioinformatic approach reveals a novel class of MPM-2 motifs upregulated in EGFRvIII-expressing glioblastoma cells. , 2008, Molecular bioSystems.

[37]  N. Pedersen,et al.  AND MUTANT , 2005 .

[38]  Koji Yoshimoto,et al.  Molecular determinants of the response of glioblastomas to EGFR kinase inhibitors. , 2005, The New England journal of medicine.

[39]  W. Cavenee,et al.  A mutant epidermal growth factor receptor common in human glioma confers enhanced tumorigenicity. , 1994, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[40]  Nikhil V. Shirahatti,et al.  Actin microfilament aggregation induced by withaferin A is mediated by annexin II , 2006, Nature chemical biology.

[41]  Joshua M. Korn,et al.  Comprehensive genomic characterization defines human glioblastoma genes and core pathways , 2008, Nature.

[42]  A. Scott,et al.  Treatment of Human Tumor Xenografts with Monoclonal Antibody 806 in Combination with a Prototypical Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor–Specific Antibody Generates Enhanced Antitumor Activity , 2005, Clinical Cancer Research.

[43]  M. Meyerson,et al.  Epidermal growth factor receptor variant III mutations in lung tumorigenesis and sensitivity to tyrosine kinase inhibitors , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[44]  P. Humphrey,et al.  Deletion-mutant epidermal growth factor receptor in human gliomas: effects of type II mutation on receptor function. , 1991, Biochemical and biophysical research communications.

[45]  D. Lauffenburger,et al.  Parsing ERK Activation Reveals Quantitatively Equivalent Contributions from Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor and HER2 in Human Mammary Epithelial Cells* , 2005, Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[46]  T. Cloughesy,et al.  Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibition promotes response to epidermal growth factor receptor kinase inhibitors in PTEN-deficient and PTEN-intact glioblastoma cells. , 2006, Cancer research.

[47]  Analysis of genomic rearrangements associated with EGRFvIII expression suggests involvement of Alu repeat elements. , 2000, Neuro-oncology.

[48]  D. Bigner,et al.  Expression of mutated epidermal growth factor receptor by non-small cell lung carcinomas. , 1993, Cancer research.

[49]  F. Feng,et al.  Integration of EGFR inhibitors with radiochemotherapy , 2006, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[50]  A. Scott,et al.  Growth suppression of intracranial xenografted glioblastomas overexpressing mutant epidermal growth factor receptors by systemic administration of monoclonal antibody (mAb) 806, a novel monoclonal antibody directed to the receptor. , 2001, Cancer research.

[51]  D. Gutmann,et al.  Oligodendrogliomas result from the expression of an activated mutant epidermal growth factor receptor in a RAS transgenic mouse astrocytoma model. , 2003, Cancer research.

[52]  S. Gabriel,et al.  Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Activation in Glioblastoma through Novel Missense Mutations in the Extracellular Domain , 2006, PLoS medicine.

[53]  I. Dikic,et al.  Cbl–CIN85–endophilin complex mediates ligand-induced downregulation of EGF receptors , 2002, Nature.

[54]  A. Friedman,et al.  Unarmed, tumor-specific monoclonal antibody effectively treats brain tumors. , 2000, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[55]  T. Cloughesy,et al.  PTEN-Mediated Resistance to Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Kinase Inhibitors , 2007, Clinical Cancer Research.

[56]  H. Wiley,et al.  The Enhanced Tumorigenic Activity of a Mutant Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Common in Human Cancers Is Mediated by Threshold Levels of Constitutive Tyrosine Phosphorylation and Unattenuated Signaling* , 1997, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[57]  M. J. van den Bent,et al.  Randomized phase II trial of erlotinib versus temozolomide or carmustine in recurrent glioblastoma: EORTC brain tumor group study 26034. , 2009, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[58]  Edouard C. Nice,et al.  Crystal Structure of a Truncated Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Extracellular Domain Bound to Transforming Growth Factor α , 2002, Cell.

[59]  D. Guertin,et al.  Phosphorylation and Regulation of Akt/PKB by the Rictor-mTOR Complex , 2005, Science.

[60]  Douglas A. Lauffenburger,et al.  Common effector processing mediates cell-specific responses to stimuli , 2007, Nature.

[61]  T. Golub,et al.  Bead-based profiling of tyrosine kinase phosphorylation identifies SRC as a potential target for glioblastoma therapy , 2009, Nature Biotechnology.

[62]  Gavin MacBeath,et al.  A quantitative protein interaction network for the ErbB receptors using protein microarrays , 2006, Nature.

[63]  F. White,et al.  Uncovering Therapeutic Targets FOR Glioblastoma: A Systems Biology Approach , 2007, Cell cycle.

[64]  Gerd Ritter,et al.  The antitumor monoclonal antibody 806 recognizes a high‐mannose form of the EGF receptor that reaches the cell surface when cells over‐express the receptor , 2005, FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology.

[65]  Peter Klein,et al.  On the nature of low- and high-affinity EGF receptors on living cells. , 2006, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[66]  Mindy I. Davis,et al.  A quantitative analysis of kinase inhibitor selectivity , 2008, Nature Biotechnology.

[67]  K. Aldape,et al.  Epigenome scans and cancer genome sequencing converge on WNK2, a kinase-independent suppressor of cell growth , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[68]  M. Westphal,et al.  Inhibition of Glioblastoma Growth in a Highly Invasive Nude Mouse Model Can Be Achieved by Targeting Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor but not Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor-2 , 2008, Clinical Cancer Research.

[69]  J. Biegel,et al.  Frequent expression of a mutant epidermal growth factor receptor in multiple human tumors. , 1995, Cancer research.

[70]  M. Mann,et al.  Phosphotyrosine interactome of the ErbB-receptor kinase family , 2005, Molecular systems biology.

[71]  David E Levy,et al.  Identification of a PTEN-regulated STAT3 brain tumor suppressor pathway. , 2008, Genes & development.

[72]  D. Levy,et al.  What does Stat3 do? , 2002, The Journal of clinical investigation.

[73]  Jae-Hoon Kim,et al.  Crystal Structure of the Complex of Human Epidermal Growth Factor and Receptor Extracellular Domains , 2002, Cell.

[74]  Suzanne Kamel-Reid,et al.  A phase I/II trial of GW572016 (lapatinib) in recurrent glioblastoma multiforme: clinical outcomes, pharmacokinetics and molecular correlation , 2009, Cancer Chemotherapy and Pharmacology.

[75]  A. Scott,et al.  A phase I clinical trial with monoclonal antibody ch 806 targeting transitional state and mutant epidermal growth factor receptors , 2007 .

[76]  V. Tkach,et al.  Expression of a naturally occurring constitutively active variant of the epidermal growth factor receptor in mouse fibroblasts increases motility , 2004, International journal of cancer.

[77]  Sampsa Hautaniemi,et al.  Effects of HER2 overexpression on cell signaling networks governing proliferation and migration , 2006, Molecular systems biology.

[78]  Hyun-soo Cho,et al.  EGF activates its receptor by removing interactions that autoinhibit ectodomain dimerization. , 2003, Molecular cell.

[79]  I Dikic,et al.  Mechanisms controlling EGF receptor endocytosis and degradation. , 2003, Biochemical Society transactions.

[80]  D. Aaronson,et al.  A Road Map for Those Who Don't Know JAK-STAT , 2002, Science.

[81]  R. Harris,et al.  Autocrine, paracrine and juxtacrine signaling by EGFR ligands. , 2005, Cellular signalling.

[82]  A. Scott,et al.  A phase I clinical trial with monoclonal antibody ch806 targeting transitional state and mutant epidermal growth factor receptors , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[83]  H. Varmus,et al.  A constitutively active epidermal growth factor receptor cooperates with disruption of G1 cell-cycle arrest pathways to induce glioma-like lesions in mice. , 1998, Genes & development.

[84]  H. Mackay,et al.  Targeting the protein kinase C family: are we there yet? , 2007, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[85]  Paola Pisani,et al.  Genetic Pathways to Glioblastoma , 2004, Cancer Research.

[86]  L. Chin,et al.  Malignant astrocytic glioma: genetics, biology, and paths to treatment. , 2007, Genes & development.

[87]  L. Chin,et al.  Marked genomic differences characterize primary and secondary glioblastoma subtypes and identify two distinct molecular and clinical secondary glioblastoma entities. , 2006, Cancer research.

[88]  Motoo Nagane,et al.  Mutant epidermal growth factor receptor signaling down-regulates p27 through activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt pathway in glioblastomas. , 2002, Cancer research.

[89]  T. Shiomi,et al.  ADAM12 is selectively overexpressed in human glioblastomas and is associated with glioblastoma cell proliferation and shedding of heparin-binding epidermal growth factor. , 2004, The American journal of pathology.

[90]  Huang Shao,et al.  Identification and characterization of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 recruitment sites within the epidermal growth factor receptor. , 2003, Cancer research.

[91]  P. Humphrey,et al.  Structural alterations of the epidermal growth factor receptor gene in human gliomas. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.

[92]  Jonathan A. Cooper,et al.  Differential Modulation of Mitogen-activated Protein (MAP) Kinase/Extracellular Signal-related Kinase Kinase and MAP Kinase Activities by a Mutant Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (*) , 1995, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[93]  E. Raymond,et al.  Lessons learned in the development of targeted therapy for malignant gliomas , 2007, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics.

[94]  Jia-wei Jin,et al.  Protein phosphatase activity of PTEN inhibited the invasion of glioma cells with epidermal growth factor receptor mutation type III expression , 2005, International journal of cancer.

[95]  D. Bigner,et al.  Development of novel targeted therapies in the treatment of malignant glioma , 2004, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery.

[96]  Jeffrey M. Trimarchi,et al.  Transcription: Sibling rivalry in the E2F family , 2002, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[97]  Lewis C. Cantley,et al.  AKT/PKB Signaling: Navigating Downstream , 2007, Cell.

[98]  D. Lowy,et al.  The biological activity of the human epidermal growth factor receptor is positively regulated by its C-terminal tyrosines. , 1991, Oncogene.

[99]  D. Slamon,et al.  Assessment of methods for tissue-based detection of the HER-2/neu alteration in human breast cancer: a direct comparison of fluorescence in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. , 2000, Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

[100]  Forest M. White,et al.  Modeling HER2 Effects on Cell Behavior from Mass Spectrometry Phosphotyrosine Data , 2006, PLoS Comput. Biol..

[101]  A Guha,et al.  Expression of activated epidermal growth factor receptors, Ras-guanosine triphosphate, and mitogen-activated protein kinase in human glioblastoma multiforme specimens. , 1999, Neurosurgery.

[102]  D. Lauffenburger,et al.  Input–output behavior of ErbB signaling pathways as revealed by a mass action model trained against dynamic data , 2009, Molecular systems biology.

[103]  C. James,et al.  Diversity and frequency of epidermal growth factor receptor mutations in human glioblastomas. , 2000, Cancer research.

[104]  J. Schlessinger,et al.  Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Dimerization and Activation Require Ligand-Induced Conformational Changes in the Dimer Interface , 2005, Molecular and Cellular Biology.

[105]  Y. Yarden,et al.  Untangling the ErbB signalling network , 2001, Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology.

[106]  R. Todd,et al.  Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) biology and human oral cancer. , 1999, Histology and histopathology.

[107]  Subha Madhavan,et al.  Rembrandt: Helping Personalized Medicine Become a Reality through Integrative Translational Research , 2009, Molecular Cancer Research.

[108]  Mary Adams,et al.  Cellular and in Vivo Activity of JNJ-28871063, A Nonquinazoline Pan-ErbB Kinase Inhibitor That Crosses the Blood-Brain Barrier and Displays Efficacy against Intracranial Tumors , 2008, Molecular Pharmacology.

[109]  S. Vandenberg,et al.  Genome-wide hypomethylation in human glioblastomas associated with specific copy number alteration, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase allele status, and increased proliferation. , 2006, Cancer research.

[110]  H. Lane,et al.  ERBB receptors and cancer: the complexity of targeted inhibitors , 2005, Nature Reviews Cancer.

[111]  D. Busam,et al.  An Integrated Genomic Analysis of Human Glioblastoma Multiforme , 2008, Science.

[112]  Peter J. Park,et al.  A Genome-Wide Screen Reveals Functional Gene Clusters in the Cancer Genome and Identifies EphA 2 as a Mitogen in Glioblastoma , 2006 .

[113]  P. Cohen,et al.  Molecular basis for the substrate specificity of protein kinase B; comparison with MAPKAP kinase‐1 and p70 S6 kinase , 1996, FEBS letters.

[114]  K. Voelkerding,et al.  Next-generation sequencing: from basic research to diagnostics. , 2009, Clinical chemistry.

[115]  K. Shokat,et al.  A dual phosphoinositide-3-kinase alpha/mTOR inhibitor cooperates with blockade of epidermal growth factor receptor in PTEN-mutant glioma. , 2007, Cancer research.

[116]  A. Wells EGF receptor. , 1999, The international journal of biochemistry & cell biology.

[117]  Forest M White,et al.  Quantitative analysis of EGFRvIII cellular signaling networks reveals a combinatorial therapeutic strategy for glioblastoma , 2007, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

[118]  Frank McCormick,et al.  EGFR Signals to mTOR Through PKC and Independently of Akt in Glioma , 2009, Science Signaling.

[119]  Keith L. Ligon,et al.  Coactivation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases Affects the Response of Tumor Cells to Targeted Therapies , 2007, Science.

[120]  Hans Skovgaard Poulsen,et al.  Mechanisms for oncogenic activation of the epidermal growth factor receptor. , 2007, Cellular signalling.

[121]  R. B. Montgomery,et al.  Constitutive Activation of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase by a Naturally Occurring Mutant Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor* , 1998, The Journal of Biological Chemistry.

[122]  C. James,et al.  Amplified and rearranged epidermal growth factor receptor genes in human glioblastomas reveal deletions of sequences encoding portions of the N- and/or C-terminal tails. , 1992, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America.