TANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) has emerged as a novel therapeutic target for unspecified subset of lung cancers. TBK1 reportedly mediates prosurvival signaling by activating NF-κB and AKT. However, we observed that TBK1 knockdown also decreased viability of cells expressing constitutively active NF-κB and interferon regulatory factor 3. Basal phospho-AKT level was not reduced after TBK1 knockdown in TBK1-sensitive lung cancer cells, implicating that TBK1 mediates unknown survival mechanisms. To gain better insight into TBK1 survival signaling, we searched for altered phosphoproteins using mass spectrometry following RNAi-mediated TBK1 knockdown. In total, we identified 2,080 phosphoproteins (4,621 peptides), of which 385 proteins (477 peptides) were affected after TBK1 knockdown. A view of the altered network identified a central role of Polo-like kinase 1 (PLK1) and known PLK1 targets. We found that TBK1 directly phosphorylated PLK1 in vitro. TBK1 phosphorylation was induced at mitosis, and loss of TBK1 impaired mitotic phosphorylation of PLK1 in TBK1-sensitive lung cancer cells. Furthermore, lung cancer cell sensitivity to TBK1 was highly correlated with sensitivity to pharmacological PLK inhibition. We additionally found that TBK1 knockdown decreased metadherin phosphorylation at Ser-568. Metadherin was associated with poor outcome in lung cancer, and loss of metadherin caused growth inhibition and apoptosis in TBK1-sensitive lung cancer cells. These results collectively revealed TBK1 as a mitosis regulator through activation of PLK1 and also suggested metadherin as a putative TBK1 downstream effector involved in lung cancer cell survival.non-canonical IκB kinase | stable isotope labeling by amino acids (SILAC) | astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) T ANK-binding kinase 1 (TBK1) was originally identified as an NF-κB-activating kinase (1). TBK1 activates the innate immune response through phosphorylation of two transcription factors, NF-κB and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3), in response to proinflammatory cytokines and Toll-like receptor activation (2, 3). Besides its pivotal role in the innate immune response, increasing evidence indicates that aberrant activation of TBK1 and its closest homolog, IκB kinase e (IKKe), is associated with development of human cancers. IKKe renders cells tumorigenic and is required for breast cancer cell proliferation and survival (4). IKKe has also been found to be amplified or activated in cancers, including lung cancer, ovarian cancer, glioma, and breast cancer (4-7).Mechanisms that activate TBK1 and the downstream proteins and pathways regulated by TBK1 in cancer remain incompletely understood. Some studies have placed TBK1 downstream of RAS signaling, increasing the potential for TBK1-targeting therapeutics in cancer. The RalB GTPase engages TBK1 with oncogenic RAS to support cancer cell survival, suggesting that TBK1 is an unappreciated RAS downstream protein involved in cancer cell survival (8). A systemic RNAi screening study revealed that TBK1 is specifically required ...