PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - SUN, Ji-yuan
TI  - GPCR-CARMA3-NF-kappaB Signaling Axis: A Novel Drug Target for Cancer Therapy
AID  - 10.1007/s11805-010-0512-1
DP  - 2010 Jun 01
TA  - Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research
PG  - 159--168
VI  - 7
IP  - 3
4099  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/7/3/159.short
4100  - http://www.cancerbiomed.org/content/7/3/159.full
SO  - Cancer Biol Med2010 Jun 01; 7
AB  - G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play pivotal roles in regulating various cellular functions. It has been well established that GPCR activates NF-κB and aberrant regulation of GPCR-NF-κB signaling axis leads to cancers. However, how GPCRs induce NF-κB activation remains largely elusive. Recently, it has been shown that a novel scaffold protein, CARMA3, is indispensable in GPCR-induced NF-κB activation. In CARMA3-deficient mouse embryonic fibroblast cells, some GPCR ligand-, like lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), induced NF-κB activation is completely abolished. Mechanistically, upon GPCR activation, CARMA3 is linked to the membrane by β-arrestin 2 and phosphorylated by some PKC isoform. Phosphorylation of CARMA3 unfolds its steric structure and recruits its downstream effectors, which in turn activate the IKK complex and NF-κB. Interestingly, GPCR (LPA)-CARMA3-NF-κB signaling axis also exists in ovarian cancer cells, and knockdown of CARMA3 results in attenuation of ovarian cancer migration and invasion, suggesting a novel target for cancer therapy. In this review, we summarize the biology of CARMA3, discuss the GPCR (LPA)-CARMA3-NF-κB signaling axis in ovarian cancer and speculate its potential role in other types of cancers. With a strongly increasing tendency to identify more LPA-like ligands, such as endothelin-1 and angiotensin II, which also activate NF-κB through CARMA3 and contribute to myriad diseases, GPCR-CARMA3-NF-κB signaling axis is emerging as a novel drug target for various types of cancer and other myriad diseases.