PAK5-mediated E47 phosphorylation promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition and metastasis of colon cancer

The p21-activated kinase 5 (PAK5) is overexpressed in advanced cancer and the transcription factor E47 is a direct repressor of E-cadherin and inducer of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). However, the relationship between PAK5 and E47 has not been explored. In this study, we found that PAK5-mediated E47 phosphorylation promoted EMT in advanced colon cancer. PAK5 interacted with E47 and phosphorylated E47 on Ser39 under hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) stimulation, which decreased cell-cell cohesion, increased cell migration and invasion in vitro and promoted metastasis in a xenograft model. Furthermore, phosphorylation of E47 facilitated its accumulating in nucleus in an importin α-dependent manner, and enhanced E47 binding to E-cadherin promoter directly, leading to inhibition of E-cadherin transcription. In contrast, PAK5-knockdown resulted in blockage of HGF-induced E47 phosphorylation, attenuated association of E47 with importin α and decreased E47 binding to E-cadherin promoter. In addition, we demonstrated a close correlation between PAK5 and phospho-Ser39 E47 expression in colon cancer specimens. More importantly, high expression of phospho-E47 was associated with an aggressive phenotype of colon cancer and nuclear phospho-E47 staining was found in certain cases of colon cancer with metastasis. Collectively, E47 is a novel substrate of PAK5, and PAK5-mediated phosphorylation of E47 promotes EMT and metastasis of colon cancer, suggesting that phosphorylated E47 on Ser39 may be a potential therapeutic target in progressive colon cancer.