Congratulations to former graduate student Yeon Soo Kim, PhD and current student Priscilla Tang on their recent publication in Redox Biology entitled: “HuR-dependent SOD2 protein synthesis is an early adaptation to anchorage-independence”.
We previously demonstrated that metastatic tumor cells up regulate and require SOD2 for optimal metastatic spread. This study explores how protein synthesis of the mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme SOD2 is rapidly increased in response to culture of tumor cells in anchorage independence. We found that SOD2 protein levels increase within hours of cellular detachment prior to changes in SOD2 transcription, and that the RNA binding protein HuR/ELAVL1 is responsible for SOD2 mRNA translation in this context. The full article can be found here.
This work demonstrates that tumor cells have the ability to acutely enhance the protein synthesis of SOD2 in response to stress associated with cellular detachment during metastasis.
Hempel Lab 