Intracellular Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Receptor 3 Contributes to Lung Tumor Cell Proliferation

The pleiotropic lipid mediator sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P) exerts a multitude of effects on respiratory cell physiology and pathology through five S1P receptors (S1PR1-5). Epidemiological studies proved high levels of circulating S1P in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. Studies in literature suggest that high levels of S1P support carcinogenesis but the exact mechanism is still elusive. The aim of this study was to understand the mechanism/s underlying S1P-mediated lung tumor cell proliferation.

We used human samples of NSCLC, a mouse model of first-hand smoking and of Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP)-induced tumor-bearing mice and A549 lung adenocarcinoma cells.

We found that the expression of S1PR3 was also into the nucleus of lung cells in vitro, data that were confirmed in lung tissues of NSCLC patients, smoking and tumor bearing BaP-exposed mice. The intranuclear, but not the membrane, localization of S1PR3 was associated to S1P-mediated proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma cells. Indeed, the inhibition of the membrane S1PR3 did not alter tumor cell proliferation after Toll Like Receptor (TLR) 9 activation. Instead, according to the nuclear localization of sphingosine kinase (SPHK) II, the inhibition of the kinase completely blocked the endogenous S1P-induced tumor cell proliferation.

These results prove that the nuclear S1PR3/SPHK II axis is involved in lung tumor cell proliferation, highlighting a novel molecular mechanism which could provide differential therapeutic approaches especially in non-responsive lung cancer patients.