SummaryFocal adhesion kinase (FAK) promotes anti-tumor immune evasion. Specifically, the kinase activity of nuclear-targeted FAK in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells drives exhaustion of CD8+ T cells and recruitment of regulatory T cells (Tregs) in the tumor microenvironment by regulating chemokine/cytokine and ligand-receptor networks, including via transcription of Ccl5, which is crucial. These changes inhibit antigen-primed cytotoxic CD8+ T cell activity, permitting growth of FAK-expressing tumors. Mechanistically, nuclear FAK is associated with chromatin and exists in complex with transcription factors and their upstream regulators that control Ccl5 expression. Furthermore, FAK’s immuno-modulatory nuclear activities may be specific to cancerous squamous epithelial cells, as normal keratinocytes do not have nuclear FAK. Finally, we show that a small-molecule FAK kinase inhibitor, VS-4718, which is currently in clinical development, also drives depletion of Tregs and promotes a CD8+ T cell-mediated anti-tumor response. Therefore, FAK inhibitors may trigger immune-mediated tumor regression, providing previously unrecognized therapeutic opportunities.

Networks of actin filaments, controlled by the Arp2/3 complex, drive membrane protrusion during cell migration. How integrins signal to the Arp2/3 complex is not well understood. Here, we show that focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and the Arp2/3 complex associate and colocalize at transient structures formed early after adhesion. Nascent lamellipodia, which originate at these structures, do not form in FAK-deficient cells, or in cells in which FAK mutants cannot be autophosphorylated after integrin engagement. The FERM domain of FAK binds directly to Arp3 and can enhance Arp2/3-dependent actin polymerization. Critically, Arp2/3 is not bound when FAK is phosphorylated on Tyr 397. Interfering peptides and FERM-domain point mutants show that FAK binding to Arp2/3 controls protrusive lamellipodia formation and cell spreading. This establishes a new function for the FAK FERM domain in forming a phosphorylation-regulated complex with Arp2/3, linking integrin signalling directly with the actin polymerization machinery.

We have generated mice with a floxed fak allele under the control of keratin-14-driven Cre fused to a modified estrogen receptor (CreER T2 ). 4-Hydroxy-tamoxifen treatment induced fak deletion in the epidermis, and suppressed chemically induced skin tumor formation. Loss of fak induced once benign tumors had formed inhibited malignant progression. Although fak deletion was associated with reduced migration of keratinocytes in vitro, we found no effect on wound re-epithelialization in vivo. However, increased keratinocyte cell death was observed after fak deletion in vitro and in vivo. Our work provides the first experimental proof implicating FAK in tumorigenesis, and this is associated with enhanced apoptosis.Supplemental material is available at http://www.genesdev.org.

Integrin-associated focal adhesions not only provide adhesive links between cellular actin and extracellular matrix but also are sites of signal transmission into the cell interior. Many cell responses signal through focal adhesion kinase (FAK), often by integrin-induced autophosphorylation of FAK or phosphorylation by Src family kinases. Here, we used an interfering FAK mutant (4-9F-FAK) to show that Src-dependent FAK phosphorylation is required for focal adhesion turnover and cell migration, by controlling assembly of a calpain 2/FAK/Src/p42ERK complex, calpain activation, and proteolysis of FAK. Expression of 4-9F-FAK in FAK-deficient fibroblasts also disrupts F-actin assembly associated with normal adhesion and spreading. In addition, we found that FAK's ability to regulate both assembly and disassembly of the actin and adhesion networks may be linked to regulation of the protease calpain. Surprisingly, we also found that the same interfering 4-9F-FAK mutant protein causes apoptosis of serum-deprived, transformed cells and suppresses anchorage-independent growth. These data show that Src-mediated phosphorylation of FAK acts as a pivotal regulator of both actin and adhesion dynamics and survival signaling, which, in turn, control apparently distinct processes such as cell migration and anchorage-independent growth. This also highlights that dynamic regulation of actin and adhesions (which include the integrin matrix receptors) is critical to signaling output and biological responses.Elevated expression of the nonreceptor tyrosine kinases Src and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) correlates with malignancy potential and poor clinical prognosis in colon and breast tumors (2,19,20,71,90,91). Recent studies monitoring focal adhesion dynamics in cells deficient for FAK and Src implicate Src and FAK as critical mediators of integrin adhesion turnover that promote cell migration (97). Cells devoid of FAK exhibit impaired migration and have large peripheral focal adhesion structures (58), while cells lacking the three ubiquitous Src family members Src, Fyn, and Yes also demonstrate altered distribution of focal adhesions and impaired cell migration (64, 94). Src kinase activity is clearly necessary for focal adhesion turnover and cell motility, presumably by tyrosine phosphorylation of key focal adhesion substrates, such as FAK (22,34). The extracellular regulated kinase (ERK)/mitogenactivated protein kinase (MAPK) pathway is also important in regulating focal adhesion dynamics during cell motility (39,63,69,99,100), and it is likely that ERK/MAPK contributes to Src-induced focal adhesion turnover. We have recently reported that ERK/MAPK, which is recruited to focal adhesions following v-Src activation, is required for maximal activity of the protease calpain 2 promoting focal adhesion turnover and migration of v-Src-transformed cells (17,35). ERK/MAPKinduced activation of calpain 2 is also required for epidermal growth factor-induced substrate deadhesion and cell motility (40,41).The calpains are a highly conserved family...

Here we describe a mechanism that cancer cells use to survive when flux through the Src/FAK pathway is severely perturbed. Depletion of FAK, detachment of FAK-proficient cells or expression of non-phosphorylatable FAK proteins causes sequestration of active Src away from focal adhesions into intracellular puncta that co-stain with several autophagy regulators. Inhibition of autophagy results in restoration of active Src at peripheral adhesions, and this leads to cancer cell death. Autophagic targeting of active Src is associated with a Src-LC3B complex, and is mediated by c-Cbl. However, this is independent of c-Cbl E3 ligase activity, but is mediated by an LC3-interacting region. Thus, c-Cbl-mediated autophagic targeting of active Src can occur in cancer cells to maintain viability when flux through the integrin/Src/FAK pathway is disrupted. This exposes a previously unrecognized cancer cell vulnerability that may provide a new therapeutic opportunity.