Investigating the Impact of K+ Channel Expression on Mechanosurveillance of Disseminated Cancer Cells

Cellular stiffness profoundly impacts cancer metastasis at multiple levels, but mechanisms that regulate cancer cells’ stiffness remain poorly understood. Here, we identified potassium efflux and KCNMB1, an auxiliary subunit of the large conductance potassium efflux (BK) channels, as regulators of cellular stiffness downstream of myocardin related transcription factor A (MRTFA). In primary pericytes, KCNMB1 knockdown increased cellular stiffness, which is consistent with the role of potassium efflux in promoting relaxation during excitation-contraction coupling. In a striking contrast, however, KCNMB1 knockdown decreased cellular stiffness in cancer cells. Softer cancer cells were resistant to NK cell-mediated cytotoxicity and the low KCNMB1 expression was associated with worse survival in breast cancer patients. Importantly, pharmacological activation of BK channels reduced metastatic burden in mice. These results highlight the unique ionic regulation of stiffness in cancer cells and point to BK channel agonism as a plausible therapeutic approach in cancer.