PKCα Induced the Generation of Extracellular Vesicles in Activated Platelets to Promote Breast Cancer Metastasis

Platelet extracellular vesicles (PEVs) play an important role in tumor development. However, the mechanisms underlying their biogenesis have not been fully elucidated. Protein kinase Cα (PKCα) is an important regulator of platelet activation, but the effect of PKCα on EV generation is unclear. We used small-particle flow cytometry and found that the number of PEVs was increased in patients with breast cancer compared to those with benign breast disease. This was accompanied by increased levels of activated PKCα in breast cancer platelets. Treating platelets with the PKCα agonist phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) increased the phosphorylation PKCα and induced PEV production, while the PKCα inhibitor GÖ6976 showed the opposite effects. Notably, incubating platelets from patients with benign tumors with the culture supernatant of MDA-MB-231 cells induced PKCα phosphorylation in the platelets. Mass spectrometry and coimmunoprecipitation assays showed that Dynamin 2 (DNM2), a member of the guanosine-triphosphate-binding protein family, might cooperate with activated PKCα to regulate PEV production by breast cancer platelets. Similar results were observed in a mouse model of lung metastasis. In addition, PEVs were engulfed by breast cancer cells and promoted cancer cell migration and invasion via miR-1297 delivery. These findings suggested that PKCα cooperates with DNM2 to induce PEV generation, and PEV release might triggered by factors in the breast cancer environment.