Tetraspanin CD63 acts as a pro-metastatic factor via β-catenin stabilization Bastian Seubert1*, Haissi Cui1*, Nicole Simonavicius2, Katja Honert1, Sandra Schäfer1,3,4, Ute Reuning5, Mathias Heikenwalder2, Bernard Mari3,4, Achim Krüger1,6 1Institute for Experimental Oncology and Therapy Research and Institute of Molecular Immunology, Klinikum rechts der Isar der Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany 2Institute of Virology Technische Universität München/Helmholtz Zentrum München, 81675 München, Germany 3University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis, Nice, France. 4Institut de Pharmacologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 06560 Sophia Antipolis, France 5Clinical Research Unit, Department for Obstetrics and Gynecology, Technische Universität München, 81675 München, Germany 6Correspondence:
[email protected] * These authors contributed equally. Novelty and impact: We demonstrate that tetraspanin CD63 expression in tumor cells is necessary to maintain their capability to form metastatic colonies. CD63 is crucial for prevalence of the aggressive mesenchymal phenotype and regulates EMT via GSK3β-dependent β-catenin stabilization. Indeed, CD63 knock down mimics inhibition of β-catenin and PI3K/AKT or GSK3β inhibitors can rescue lack of CD63. This pro-metastatic role of CD63 renders this molecule as a possible target for interference with metastasis. This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as an ‘Accepted Article’, doi: 10.1002/ijc.29296 International Journal of Cancer Page 2 of 31 Conflict of interest: The authors have no conflict of interest.