Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40185303›Full record

ArticleCancer letters2025

MK2 promotes p16 negative head and neck cancer migration, invasion, and metastasis.

Deri Morgan, Dakota Dd Okwuone, Kiersten L Berggren, Levi Arnold, Alyssa Schmidt, Colby Spiess, Hannah Smith, Ravi Yada, Nathan Hendrikse, Rashna Madan and 12 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Cancer letters, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

22 authors.

Deri MorganDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Dakota Dd OkwuoneDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Kiersten L BerggrenThe University of New Mexico, School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
Levi ArnoldDepartment of Otolaryngology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Alyssa SchmidtDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Colby SpiessDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Hannah SmithDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Ravi YadaCarbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA.
Nathan HendrikseCarbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA.
Rashna MadanDepartment of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Devin ShrockDepartment of Pathology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Chris LominskaDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Mengjia HuDepartment of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Topeka, KS, USA.
Malgorzata WitekDepartment of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Topeka, KS, USA.
Steven SoperDepartment of Chemistry, University of Kansas, Topeka, KS, USA.
Yuting LinDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Hao GaoDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Dennis J McCanceDepartment of Otolaryngology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA.
Sufi M ThomasDepartment of Pathology, The University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA.
David BeebeCarbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA.
Sheena C KerrCarbone Cancer Center, University of Wisconsin Madison, WI, USA.
Gregory N GanDepartment of Radiation Oncology, University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS, USA. Electronic address: ggan@kumc.edu.

Funding

Transgenic & Gene-Targeting Shared ResourceP30CA168524 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · PI NICOLE L NOLLEN · 2012 to 2026
$40.1M
Using Integrated Omics to Identify Dysfunctional Genetic Mechanisms Influencing Schizophrenia and Sleep DisturbancesP20GM130423 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS MEDICAL CENTER · PI ANDREW K. GODWIN · 2019 to 2026
$21.5M
Single-Molecule Processing: Detection and Identification of Single DNAs, RNAs, and Proteins using Immobilized Nanoscale Enzymatic Reactors (INERs) and Nanoscale ElectrophoresisP41EB020594 · NIBIB · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Malgorzata Anna Witek · 2015 to 2026
$15.2M
Project 3: Modulation of the head and neck tumor immune microenvironment by targeting the TAM family of receptorsP50CA278595 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI Jenny E. Gumperz · 2022 to 2026
$12.5M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA168524NCI NIH HHS P50 CA278595NIBIB NIH HHS P41 EB020594NIGMS NIH HHS P20 GM130423
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

For patients with locally advanced, p16-negative head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), overall survival remains poor due to primary locoregional failure and distant metastasis following curative therapy. We aimed to understand how MAPKAPK2 (MK2) regulates HNSCC tumor cell migration and invasion, important first steps in cancer metastases. The TCGA database and HNSCC tissue microarrays were used to show that MK2 expression was associated with more advanced cancers and faster cancer recurrence rates. We observed that silencing of tumor MK2 in human cell lines (shRNA) caused a significant reduction in tumor cell migration-invasion in a complex HNSCC microphysiologic system used to recapitulate the tumor microenvironment. Murine cells (Ly2) with MK2 silenced (CRISPR-Cas9) also demonstrated reduced migration and invasion using 2D and 3D monoculture cell migration-invasions assays. Ly2 cells are orthotopic p16-negative murine metastatic cells that spontaneously metastasize, and we observed that MK2 inhibition via genetic (Cas9/CRISPR) or pharmacologic (PF-3644022) methods led to a significant reduction in the number of circulating tumor cells, fewer lymph node and lung metastases, and MK2 inhibited mice showed improved overall survival. Our findings suggest that HNSCC MK2 regulates tumor cell migration-invasion and may be a promising therapeutic target to reduce metastases.

Indexed as

Cell MovementCyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16Head and Neck NeoplasmsIntracellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsProtein Serine-Threonine KinasesSquamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and NeckAnimalsCell Line, TumorFemaleGene Expression Regulation, NeoplasticHumansMaleMAP-Kinase-Activated Kinase 2MiceNeoplasm InvasivenessNeoplasm MetastasisCDKN2A protein, humanCyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p16Intracellular Signaling Peptides and ProteinsMAP-Kinase-Activated Kinase 2Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases

Identifiers

PMID40185303
PMCPMC12318363

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.