hnRNPK S379 phosphorylation participates in migration regulation of triple negative MDA-MB-231 cells

We have previously identified a novel Aurora-A-mediated Serine 379 (S379) phosphorylation of a poly(C)-binding protein, hnRNPK, the overexpression of which is frequently observed in various cancers. It is known that the oncogenic Aurora-A kinase promotes the malignancy of cancer cells. This study aims to investigate the unexplored functions of hnRNPK S379 phosphorylation using MDA-MB-231 cells, a triple negative breast cancer cell that has amplification of the Aurora-A kinase gene. Accordingly, we established two cell lines in which the endogenous hnRNPK was replaced with either S379D or S379A hnRNPK respectively. Notably, we found that a phosphorylation-mimic S379D mutant of hnRNPK suppressed cell migration and, conversely, a phosphorylation-defective S379A mutant promoted migration. Moreover, Twist was downregulated upon hnRNPK S379 phosphorylation, whereas β-catenin and MMP12 were increased when there was loss of hnRNPK S379 phosphorylation in MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, S379A hnRNPK increases stability of β-catenin in MDA-MB-231 cells. In conclusion, our results suggest that hnRNPK S379 phosphorylation regulates migration via the EMT signaling pathway.