Page 40 - D. Cancer biology

[D. Cancer biology-28]

MLK3-AURKC axis induce proliferation and migration by

mediating microtubule organization in breast cancers

Jin-Young Min¹˙², Eun Hee Han¹˙*

¹Division of Bioconvergence Analysis, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Cheongju 28119, Republic of Korea,

²College of Pharmacy, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 34134, Republic of Korea

Aurora C kinase (AURKC) has an activity with tumorigenesis in breast cancer and may be a relevant cancer target.
AURKC is an interesting target for the development of anticancer therapy, but its signaling network has not been

fully characterized. Here we report the identification of MLK3 as one of the AURKC binding partners and abnormal

interaction of MLK3-AURKC induce tumorigenic activity. MLK3 was screened as one of the AURKC binding partners
through the CUPID assay. AURKC/MLK3 complex promoted malignant cell transformation activity in NIH3T3 cells.
In addition, expression and interaction of AURKC/MLK3 were observed in breast cancer cells compare to breast

normal cells. Furthermore, correlation with novel interaction and tumorigenesis was confirmed by synergistic anti-
tumor effects of combination treatment of pan-MLKs inhibitor (CEP1347) and AURKB/C inhibitor (GSK1070916) in

MDA-MB-231 cells. Therefore, complex of AURKC/MLK3 can be a new anti-cancer therapeutic target in breast cancer
and provides a clue to understand concealed role of AURKC in cancer.