We report that knocking down the expression of inositol polyphosphate 4-phosphatase type II (INPP4B) in human epithelial cells, like knockdown of PTEN, resulted in enhanced Akt activation, anchorage-independent growth, and enhanced over all motility. In xenograft experiments overexpression of INPP4B resulted in reduced tumor growth. INPP4B preferentially hydrolyzes phosphatidylinositol-3,4-bisphosphate (PI(3,4)P2) with no effect on phosphatidylinositol-3.4.5-triphosphate (PI(3,4,5)P3), suggesting that PI(3,4)P2 and PI(3,4,5)P3 may cooperate in Akt activation and cell transformation. Dual knockdown of INPP4B and PTEN resulted in cellular senescence. Finally, we find loss-of-heterozygosity (LOH) at the INPP4B locus in a majority of basal-like breast cancers as well as in a significant fraction of ovarian cancers, which correlated with lower over all patient survival, suggesting that INPP4B is a tumor suppressor.

SHOC2 is mutated in Noonan syndrome and plays a key role in the activation of the ERK-MAPK pathway, which is upregulated in the majority of human cancers. SHOC2 functions as a PP1-regulatory protein and as an effector of MRAS. Here we show that SHOC2 and MRAS form a complex with SCRIB, a polarity protein with tumor suppressor properties. SCRIB functions as a PP1-regulatory protein and antagonizes SHOC2-mediated RAF dephosphorylation through a mechanism involving competition for PP1 molecules within the same macromolecular complex. SHOC2 function is selectively required for the malignant properties of tumor cells with mutant RAS, and both MRAS and SHOC2 play a key role in polarized migration. We propose that MRAS, through its ability to recruit a complex with paradoxical components, coordinates ERK pathway spatiotemporal dynamics with polarity and that this complex plays a key role during tumorigenic growth.

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