AKT Blocks SIK1-Mediated Repression of STAT3 to Promote Breast Tumorigenesis

The PI3K-AKT signaling pathway is frequently dysregulated in cancer, and it is hyperactivated in approximately 50% of breast cancers. Although inhibitors directly targeting the PI3K-AKT axis have been developed, clinical efficacy has been limited to only a subset of patients. Identification of mechanisms under-lying AKT-driven tumorigenesis could lead to alternative approaches to block pathway signaling and suppress breast tumor growth. Mass spectrometry-based analyses demonstrated that salt-inducible kinase 1 (SIK1) binds AKT and undergoes AKT-mediated phosphorylation, which compromises SIK1 tumor-suppressive functions. As a result, AKT relieved the binding and repression of STAT3 by SIK1 in a phosphoryla-tion-dependent manner, resulting in breast cell tumorigenesis. Following AKT-mediated phosphorylation, SIK1 interacted with 14-3-3 and was translocated to the cytoplasm where the isom-erase Pin1 facilitated SIK1 interaction with the E3 ligase ITCH to promote SIK1 ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. These findings indicate that SIK1 is a substrate of AKT that links AKT oncogenic function to STAT3 activation, highlighting targeting of the JAK2-STAT3 axis as a strategy to treat AKT -driven breast cancer.Significance: AKT binds and phosphorylates SIK1 to overcome SIK1-mediated repression of STAT3, indicating that STAT3 is a potential therapeutic target in breast cancer with hyperactive AKT signaling.

Automated summary

The PI3K-AKT signaling pathway is frequently dysregulated and hyperactivated in breast cancer. Mass spectrometry-based analyses revealed that AKT binds and phosphorylates SIK1, leading to the activation of STAT3 and breast tumor growth. Targeting the JAK2-STAT3 axis could be a potential therapeutic strategy in AKT-driven breast cancer.