Pan-cancer Analysis Predicts Kindlin-associated Global Mechanochemical Perturbation

Abstract

Kindlins are mechanosensitive adapter proteins that connect extracellular mechanical cues to intracellular chemical events. Any alterations in these proteins thus alter cellular signaling, which could result in cancer progression. However, their involvement in global mechanochemical signals remains elusive in cancers. Here we analyze pan-cancer samples to decipher how kindlin alterations aid cancer progression. We show that kindlin alterations, at both the genetic and mRNA level, dysregulates cellular behavior which significantly correlate with poor survival. We find that while these alterations are cancer-specific, they are prevalent in advanced tumor stages and metastatic onset. We observe that kindlins co-alter with a substantial fraction of human mechanochemical proteome in various tumors. Our analysis suggests how kindlin alterations aid tumor-promoting signals with a synergistic effect from alterations of cancer-hallmark genes. Notably, we demonstrate a consistent alteration of epithelial-mesenchymal-transition markers with kindlin activity. Overall, our study highlights how kindlin alterations could affect metabolism, genomic instability, and signal disruption via their interactome network, causing cancer and suggests targeting them as a therapeutic strategy.