FLNA is implicated in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors aggressiveness and progression

Pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors (PNTs) comprise different neoplasms, ranging from low grade carcinoids to the highly malignant small cell lung cancers. Several studies identified the cytoskeleton protein Filamin A (FLNA) as determinant in cancer progression and metastasis, but the role of FLNA in PNT aggressiveness and progression is still unknown. We evaluated FLNA expression in PNTs with different grade of differentiation, the role of FLNA in cell proliferation, colony formation, angiogenesis, cell adhesion and migration in PNT cell line (H727 cells) and primary cultures and the possible interaction between FLNA and Rap1-GTPase. FLNA is highly expressed in PNTs with high malignant grade. FLNA silencing reduces cyclin D1 levels (-51±5, p < 0.001) and cell proliferation in PNT cells (-37±4, p < 0.05), colony formation and VEGF expression (-39±9%, p < 0.01) in H727 cells. FLNA and Rap1 co-localize in cellular protrusions and FLNA silencing up-regulates Rap1 expression (+73±18%, p < 0.01). Rap1 silencing prevents cell adhesion increase (+43%±18%, p < 0.01) and cell migration decrease (-56±7%, p < 0.01) induced by FLNA silencing, without affecting cell proliferation reduction. In conclusion, FLNA is implicated in PNT progression, in part through Rap1, thus providing a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target.