SSeCKS/Gravin/AKAP12 attenuates expression of proliferative and angiogenic genes during suppression of v-Src-induced oncogenesis

Background: SSeCKS is a major protein kinase C substrate with kinase scaffolding and metastasis-suppressor activity whose expression is severely downregulated in Src- and Ras-transformed fibroblast and epithelial cells and in human prostate, breast, and gastric cancers. We previously used NIH3T3 cells with tetracycline-regulated SSeCKS expression plus a temperature-sensitive v-Src allele to show that SSeCKS re-expression inhibited parameters of v-Src-induced oncogenic growth without attenuating in vivo Src kinase activity. Methods: We use cDNA microarrays and semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis to identify changes in gene expression correlating with i) SSeCKS expression in the absence of v-Src activity, ii) activation of v-Src activity alone, and iii) SSeCKS re-expression in the presence of active v-Src. Results: SSeCKS re-expression resulted in the attenuation of critical Src- induced proliferative and pro-angiogenic gene expression including Afp, Hif-1 alpha, Cdc20a and Pdgfr-beta, and conversely, SSeCKS induced several cell cycle regulatory genes such as Ptpn11, Gadd45a, Ptplad1, Cdkn2d (p19), and Rbbp7. Conclusion: Our data provide further evidence that SSeCKS can suppress Src- induced oncogenesis by modulating gene expression downstream of Src kinase activity.