The Human Intermediate Prolactin Receptor I-tail Contributes Breast Oncogenesis by Targeting Ras/MAPK Pathway

Prolactin and its receptor (PRLr) in humans are significantly involved in breast cancer pathogenesis. The intermediate form of human PRLr (hPRLrI) is produced by alternative splicing and has a novel 13 amino acid tail ("I-tail") gain. hPRLrI induces significant proliferation and anchorage-independent growth of normal mammary epithelia in vitro when coexpressed with the long form hPRLr (hPRLrL). hPRLrL and hPRLrI coexpression is necessary to induce the transformation of mammary epithelia in vivo. The I-tail is associated with the ubiquitin-like protein neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated protein 8. Treatment with the neural precursor cell expressed developmentally downregulated protein 8-activating enzyme inhibitor pevonedistat resulted in increased hPRLrL and the death of breast cancer cells. The goal of this study was to determine the function of the hPRLrI I-tail in hPRLrL/hPRLrI-mediated mammary transformation. hPRLrL/hPRLrI and hPRLrL/hPRLrIΔ13 (I-tail removal mutant) were delivered to MCF10AT cells. Cell proliferation was decreased when hPRLrI I-tail was removed. I-tail deletion decreased anchorage-independent growth and attenuated cell migration. The I-tail was involved in Ras/MAPK signaling but not PI3K/Akt signaling pathway as shown by western blot. I-tail removal resulted in decreased hPRLrI stability. RNA-sequencing data revealed that I-tail removal resulted in differential gene expression induced by prolactin. Ingenuity Pathway Analysis revealed that the activity of ERK was attenuated. Treatment of breast cancer cells with ERK1/2 inhibitor ulixertinib resulted in decreased colony-forming ability and less proliferation. These studies suggest that the hPRLrI I-tail contributed to breast oncogenesis and may be a promising target for the development of new breast cancer therapies.