We have previously reported that ovarian cancer G protein-coupled receptor 1 (OGR1) is a new metastasis suppressor gene. Although, we have reported the expression of a new intronless gene for casein kinase 2α (CSNK2A3) in human cells, there is no previous report on regulation of CK2α expression in cancer cells. In this study, we found that OGR1 up-regulates expression of CSNK2A3 by about 3 folds in A549 cells but not CSNK2A1. OGR1 also up-regulates expression of neutral endopeptidase (NEP). The

more »

... OGR1 induced inhibition of A549 cell migration is completely abrogated by inhibition of casein kinase 2α activity, whereas partial abrogation (~ 30%) was observed in the presence of NEP inhibition. The results also revealed that OGR1 regulates CSNK2A3 via activation of Rac1/cdc42 and MAPKs pathways. CK2 is ubiquitously expressed and in contrast it is believed to be a constitutively active enzyme and its regulation appears to be independent of known second messengers. Our findings also suggest that the aberrantly casein kinase 2α expression found in various cancer cells may the due to CSNK2A3 expression which is potentially regulated by several master regulators of the developmental pathways rather than well-known casein kinase 2α gene, CSNK2A1.