Dephosphorylation of astrocyte elevated gene-1 protein upregulates eIF4E expression to promote gastric cancer progression

Protein phosphorylation modification plays an important role in regulating protein activity. Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1), an adaptor protein, promotes the progression of various types of cancers by protein-protein interactions. We previously demonstrated that AEG-1 promoted the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer by upregulating the expression of oncogenic eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E. However, a role for AEG-1 phosphorylation is not known. In this study, we identified phosphorylation of serines 426 (S426) and 308 (S308) as the inactive status of AEG-1. Decreased AEG-1 S426 phosphorylation in human gastric cancer tissues was correlated with the cancer progression, whereas AEG-1 S426 dephosphorylation upregulated eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E transcription expression. This dephosphorylation was facilitated by AEG-1 S308 dephosphorylation through a mechanism involving the activation of p65 NF-κB. Double phosphorylation of AEG-1 S308-426 significantly inhibited the growth and migration of cancer cells while also suppressing the growth and metastasis of gastric cancer in nude mouse models. Mechanistically, the phosphatase protein 1 regulatory subunit 21 bound to AEG-1 and mediated the protein phosphatase 1 catalytic subunit to induce the loss of AEG-1 phosphorylation. Our findings highlight a role for AEG-1 dephosphorylation in the progression of gastric cancer and provide potential new targets for cancer therapy.