Activation of an oncogenic TBC1D7 (TBC1 domain family, member 7) protein in pulmonary carcinogenesis.

To develop novel biomarkers and therapeutic agents for lung cancers, we screened molecules that were highly expressed in lung cancers by means of cDNA microarray analysis and found an elevated expression of TBC1 domain family, member 7 (TBC1D7) in the majority of lung cancers. Northern-blot analysis using mRNAs from 16 normal tissues detected its expression only in testis. Immunohistochemical staining using tumor tissue microarrays consisting of 261 archived non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) specimens suggested an association of TBC1D7 expression with poor prognosis for NSCLC patients (P = 0.0063). Treatment of lung cancer cells using siRNA against TBC1D7, suppressed its expression and resulted in inhibition of the cell growth. Furthermore, the induction of exogenous expression of TBC1D7 conferred growth-promoting activity at in vitro and in vivo conditions. We also identified TBC1D7 to interact with TSC1 protein in lung cancer cells. TSC1 introduction into cells increased the level of TBC1D7 protein, whereas knockdown of TSC1 expression decreased the level of TBC1D7 protein, suggesting that TBC1D7 is stabilized probably through interaction with TSC1. In addition, inhibition of the binding between TBC1D7 and TSC1 by a TBC1D7-derived 20-amino acid cell-permeable peptide (11R-TBC1D7(152-171)), which corresponded to the binding domain to TSC1, effectively suppressed growth of lung cancer cells. Selective suppression of TBC1D7 and/or inhibition of the TBC1D7-TSC1 complex formation could be promising therapeutic strategies for lung cancer therapy.