3678

ITGA5

CD49e|FNRA|VLA-5|VLA5A;integrin, alpha 5 (fibronectin receptor, alpha polypeptide);ITGA5;integrin, alpha 5 (fibronectin receptor, alpha polypeptide)

CD49 antigen-like family member E|fibronectin receptor subunit alpha|fibronectin receptor, alpha subunit|integrin alpha-5|integrin alpha-F|very late activation protein 5, alpha subunit

12q11-q13

protein-coding

HER-2 is constitutively activated and overexpressed in many cancers, and its inhibition in colon cancer cells diminishes tumorigenicity and induces apoptosis. Little is known about the regulation of HER-2 signaling in colon cancer cells. Integrin alpha5/beta1 expression is frequently lost in colorectal cancer cells compared with normal intestinal epithelium, and colon cancer cells lacking integrin alpha5/beta1 expression utilize HER-2 signaling for proliferation and tumorigenicity. Re-expression of integrin alpha5/beta1 in colon cancer cells abrogated their tumorigenicity, but how this occurs is not well known. Stable expression of integrin alpha5/beta1 in colon cancer cells with little or no detectable integrin alpha5/beta1 protein expression resulted in the post-transcriptional down-regulation of HER-2 protein. Integrin alpha5/beta1 was found to interact with HER-2, and the cytoplasmic domain of integrin alpha5/beta1 was sufficient to mediate HER-2 down-regulation. Integrin alpha5/beta1-mediated down-regulation of HER-2 was the result of increased lysosomal targeting. The inhibition of HER-2 signaling represents a potential mechanism by which integrin alpha5/beta1 exerts its tumor suppressor-like activity in colon cancer cells. These results also suggest that a novel function for integrin alpha5/beta1 is the control of HER-2 expression.