Dominant-Negative Form of SIGIRR: SIGIRRΔE8 Promotes Tumor Growth Through Regulation of Metabolic Pathways

Colorectal carcinoma is the leading cause of cancer-related death. Previously we have shown that tumor suppressor single immunoglobulin interleukin-1-related receptor (SIGIRR) is frequently inactivated in human colorectal cancer by the increased expression of a novel SIGIRR isoform (SIGIRR(Delta E8)). SIGIRR(Delta E8) showed increased retention in the cytoplasm and loss of complex glycan modification compared to the full-length SIGIRR. Now we found that the arginine residues located in the C-terminus of SIGIRR(Delta E8) serve as an endoplasmic reticulum retention signal and are required for resident protein ribophorin 1 (RPN1) interaction. In addition, we found that SIGIRR(Delta E8) exerts a direct impact on cell metabolism through interaction with the adenosine triphosphate synthase in the colorectal cancer cells. SIGIRR(Delta E8) expression promoted the metabolic shift through upregulation of mammalian target of rapamycin signaling pathway and dysregulation of mitochondrial function to promote survival and proliferation of colon cancer cells in xenograft model.