- Feng, Haizhong;
- Lopez, Giselle Y;
- Kim, Chung Kwon;
- Alvarez, Angel;
- Duncan, Christopher G;
- Nishikawa, Ryo;
- Nagane, Motoo;
- Su, An-Jey A;
- Auron, Philip E;
- Hedberg, Matthew L;
- Wang, Lin;
- Raizer, Jeffery J;
- Kessler, John A;
- Parsa, Andrew T;
- Gao, Wei-Qiang;
- Kim, Sung-Hak;
- Minata, Mutsuko;
- Nakano, Ichiro;
- Grandis, Jennifer R;
- McLendon, Roger E;
- Bigner, Darell D;
- Lin, Hui-Kuan;
- Furnari, Frank B;
- Cavenee, Webster K;
- Hu, Bo;
- Yan, Hai;
- Cheng, Shi-Yuan
Aberrant activation of EGFR in human cancers promotes tumorigenesis through stimulation of AKT signaling. Here, we determined that the discoidina neuropilin-like membrane protein DCBLD2 is upregulated in clinical specimens of glioblastomas and head and neck cancers (HNCs) and is required for EGFR-stimulated tumorigenesis. In multiple cancer cell lines, EGFR activated phosphorylation of tyrosine 750 (Y750) of DCBLD2, which is located within a recently identified binding motif for TNF receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6). Consequently, phosphorylation of DCBLD2 Y750 recruited TRAF6, leading to increased TRAF6 E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and subsequent activation of AKT, thereby enhancing EGFR-driven tumorigenesis. Moreover, evaluation of patient samples of gliomas and HNCs revealed an association among EGFR activation, DCBLD2 phosphorylation, and poor prognoses. Together, our findings uncover a pathway in which DCBLD2 functions as a signal relay for oncogenic EGFR signaling to promote tumorigenesis and suggest DCBLD2 and TRAF6 as potential therapeutic targets for human cancers that are associated with EGFR activation.