5754

PTK7

protein tyrosine kinase 7 (inactive);PTK7;protein tyrosine kinase 7 (inactive)

PTK7 protein tyrosine kinase 7|colon carcinoma kinase 4|inactive tyrosine-protein kinase 7|pseudo tyrosine kinase receptor 7|tyrosine-protein kinase-like 7

6p21.1-p12.2

protein-coding

Protein Tyrosin Kinase 7 (PTK7) is upregulated in several human cancers; however, its clinical implication in breast cancer (BC) and lymph node (LN) is still unclear. In order to investigate the function of PTK7 in mediating BC cell motility and invasivity, PTK7 expression in BC cell lines was determined. PTK7 signaling in highly invasive breast cancer cells was inhibited by a dominant-negative PTK7 mutant, an antibody against the extracellular domain of PTK7, and siRNA knockdown of PTK7. This resulted in decreased motility and invasivity of BC cells. We further examined PTK7 expression in BC and LN tissue of 128 BC patients by RT-PCR and its correlation with BC related genes like HER2, HER3, PAI1, MMP1, K19, and CD44. expression profiling in BC cell lines and primary tumors showed association of PTK7 with ER/PR/HER2-negative (TNBC-triple negative BC) cancer. Oncomine data analysis confirmed this observation and classified PTK7 in a cluster with genes associated with agressive behavior of primary BC. Furthermore PTK7 expression was significantly different with respect to tumor size (ANOVA, p = 0.033) in BC and nodal involvement (ANOVA, p = 0.007) in LN. PTK7 expression in metastatic LN was related to shorter DFS (Cox Regression, p = 0.041). Our observations confirmed the transforming potential of PTK7, as well as its involvement in motility and invasivity of BC cells. PTK7 is highly expressed in TNBC cell lines. It represents a novel prognostic marker for BC patients and has potential therapeutic significance.

It is well established that widely expressed PTK7 is essential for vertebrate tissue morphogenesis. In cancer, the functionality of PTK7 is selectively regulated by membrane type-1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP), ADAMs (a disintegrin domain and metalloproteinases), and gamma-secretase proteolysis. Here, we established that the full-length membrane PTK7, its Chuzhoi mutant with the two functional MT1-MMP cleavage sites, and its L622D mutant with the single inactivated MT1-MMP cleavage site differentially regulate cell motility in a two-dimensional versus three-dimensional environment. We also demonstrated that in polarized cancer cells, the levels of PTK7 expression and proteolysis were directly linked to the structure and kinetics of cell protrusions, including lamellipodia and invadopodia. In the functionally relevant and widely accepted animal models of metastasis, mouse and chick embryo models, both the overexpression and knock-out of PTK7 in HT1080 cells abrogated metastatic dissemination. Our analysis of human tissue specimens confirmed intensive proteolysis of PTK7 in colorectal cancer tumors, but not in matching normal tissue. Our results provide convincing evidence that both PTK7 expression and proteolysis, rather than the level of the cellular full-length PTK7 alone, contribute to efficient directional cell motility and metastasis in cancer.