scholarly journals CXCR4 Regulates Extra-Medullary Myeloma through Epithelial-Mesenchymal-Transition-like Transcriptional Activation

Cell Reports ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 622-635 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aldo M. Roccaro ◽  
Yuji Mishima ◽  
Antonio Sacco ◽  
Michele Moschetta ◽  
Yu-Tzu Tai ◽  
...  
Author(s):  
Jayanta Kumar Das ◽  
Quentin Felty ◽  
Robert Poppiti ◽  
Robert M. Jackson ◽  
Deodutta Roy

Transcription factor activity of the nuclear respiratory factor 1 protein (NRF1) is increased in breast cancer. Whether this gain of NRF1 activity is directly involved in breast cancer remains unknown. Herein, we report a novel oncogenic function of NRF1 supporting its causative role in breast cancer development and progression. The gain of NRF1 and/or treatment with 17β-estradiol (E2) produced heterogeneous breast cancer stem cells (BCSCs) composed of more than ten distinct cell sub-populations. Flow sorting combined with confocal imaging of markers for pluripotency, epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), and BCSCs phenotypically confirmed that the sub-populations of BCSCs arise from cell re-programming. Thus, we determined the molecular actions of NRF1 on its target gene CXCR4 because of its known role in the acquisition of BCSCs through EMT. CXCR4 was activated by NRF1 in a redox dependent manner during malignant transformation. NRF1-induced BCSCs were able to form xenograft tumors in vivo, while inhibiting transcription of CXCR4 prevented xenograft tumor growth. Consistent with our observation of NRF1 driven breast tumorigenesis in the experimental model, higher levels of NRF1 protein expression were also found in human breast cancer tissue specimens. This highly novel role of NRF1 in the stochastic acquisition of BCSCs and their progression to a malignant phenotype may open an entirely new research direction targeting NRF1 signaling in invasive breast cancer. Additionally, the discovery of targeting transcriptional activation of CXCR4 to inhibit NRF1-induced oncogenic transformation provides a mechanistic explanation for estrogen-dependent breast carcinogenesis and opens the new avenues for mechanistic therapeutic strategy against breast cancer.


Author(s):  
Chenqiang Jia ◽  
Zhuqing Zhang ◽  
Jun Tang ◽  
Mei-Chun Cai ◽  
Jingyu Zang ◽  
...  

GSDME is a newly recognized executor of cellular pyroptosis, and has been recently implicated in tumor growth and immunity. However, knowledge about the molecular regulators underlying GSDME abundance remains limited. Here, we performed integrative bioinformatics analyses and identified that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) gene signatures exhibited positive correlation with GSDME levels across human cancers. A causal role was supported by the observation that EMT dictated GSDME reversible upregulation in multiple experimental models. Mechanistically, transcriptional activation of GSDME was directly driven by core EMT-activating transcription factors ZEB1/2, which bound to the GSDME promoter region. Of functional importance, elevated GSDME in mesenchymally transdifferentiated derivatives underwent proteolytic cleavage upon antineoplastic drug exposure, leading to pyroptotic cell death and consequent cytokine release. Taken together, our findings pinpointed a key transcriptional machinery controlling GSDME expression and indicated potential therapeutic avenues to exploit GSDME-mediated inflammatory pyroptosis for the treatment of mesenchymal malignancies.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
Author(s):  
Changlong Shi ◽  
Li Sun ◽  
Yongsheng Song

AbstractLong noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs) refer to the RNA with a length of >200 nucleotides, which lack or have no open reading coding frame and have higher tissue and organ specificity compared with the protein coding genes. A surging number of studies have shown that lncRNA is involved in numerous essential regulatory processes, such as X chromosome silencing, genomic imprinting, chromatin modification, transcriptional activation, transcriptional interference and nuclear transport, which are closely related to the occurrence and development of human malignancies. FEZ family Zinc Finger 1-Antisense RNA 1 (FEZF1-AS1) of FEZ family is a recently discovered lncRNA. FEZF1-AS1 is highly expressed in pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, lung adenocarcinoma and other human malignancies, and is associated with poor prognosis. As an oncogene, it plays crucial role in the proliferation, migration, invasion and Warburg effect of various tumor cells. In addition, FEZF1-AS1 is also involved in the regulation of multiple signal pathways such as epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and Wnt/ β-catenin. In this paper, the recent research progress of FEZF1-AS1 in tumorigenesis and development is reviewed systematically.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yang Chen ◽  
Weilian Liang ◽  
Ke Liu ◽  
Zhengjun Shang

Abstract Background Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cell stemness are implicated in the initiation and progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). Revealing the intrinsic regulatory mechanism may provide effective therapeutic targets for OSCC. Results In this study, we found that Forkhead box D1 (FOXD1) was upregulated in OSCC compared with normal samples. Patients with a higher FOXD1 expression had a poorer overall survival and disease-free survival. Immunohistochemical staining results showed that FOXD1 expression was related to the clinical stage and relapse status of OSCC patients. When FOXD1 expression was knocked down in CAL27 and SCC25 cells, the migration, invasion, colony formation, sphere formation, and proliferation abilities decreased. Moreover, EMT and stemness-related markers changed remarkably, which indicated that the EMT process and cell stemness were inhibited. Conversely, overexpression of FOXD1 promoted EMT and cell stemness. Further study demonstrated that FOXD1 could bind to the promoter region and activate the transcription of SNAI2. In turn, the elevated SNAI2 affected EMT and cell stemness. An in vivo study showed that FOXD1-overexpressing CAL27 cells possessed a stronger tumorigenic ability. Conclusions Our findings revealed a novel mechanism in regulating EMT and cell stemness and proposed FOXD1 as a potential marker for the diagnosis and treatment of OSCC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miao Zhang ◽  
Yaguang Han ◽  
Yi Zheng ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Xin Zhao ◽  
...  

AbstractGrowing incidence of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) has been detected recently. Multiple long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been proven as tumor facilitators or inhibitors by extensive works. Present study concentrated on characterizing the potential role of LINC01123 in LUAD. We explored the differential expression of LINC01123 through qRT-PCR and found the amplification of LINC01123 in LUAD cell lines. It was ascertained that LINC01123 was definitely responsible for the malignant processes of LUAD cells. Further, we validated the ceRNA network of LINC01123/miR-449b-5p/NOTCH1 in LUAD via mechanical experiments. As a transcriptional factor related to epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), ZEB1 was responsible for the transcriptional activation of both LINC01123 and NOTCH1. The involvement of NOTCH signaling in LUAD was interrogated through evaluating functional changes after treating with FLI-06 (NOTCH pathway suppressor). It showed that FLI-06-caused NOTCH signaling inactivation suppressed malignant functions in LUAD cells. Additionally, LINC01123 facilitated NOTCH1-dependent NOTCH signaling activation. Rescue experiments probed the modulatory function of LINC01123/miR-449b-5p/NOTCH1 in LUAD cellular processes. Altogether, ZEB1-activated LINC01123 accelerates the malignancy in LUAD through miR-449b-5p/NOTCH1 axis-mediated NOTCH signaling pathway, while NOTCH1 boosts ZEB1 in return. These observations suggest the huge potential of LINC01123 as a new target for LUAD therapy.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elena Cesaro ◽  
Arianna Pastore ◽  
Alessia Polverino ◽  
Lorenzo Manna ◽  
Giuseppina Divisato ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: The zinc finger protein ZNF224 plays a dual role in human cancers, operating as both tumour suppressor and oncogenic factor depending on the cellular context and molecular partners. In this research, we investigated the role played by ZNF224 in the TGF-β signalling in malignant melanoma. Methods: Real-time qPCR, western blot, and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were performed to examine the molecular mechanisms of ZNF224 in TGF-β signalling in melanoma. ZNF224-induced cell anchorage, independent growth, migration, and invasion were assessed by the colony formation, wound healing, and transwell assays.Results: Our findings showed that ZNF224, whose expression increased in melanoma cell lines after TGF-b stimulation, potentiated the activation induced by TGF-β on its target genes involved in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Accordingly, overexpression of ZNF224 improved the tumourigenic properties of melanoma cells, promoting cell proliferation and invasiveness, while ZNF224 knockdown had the opposite effect. Moreover, ZNF224 promoted the transcriptional activation of TGF-β itself and its type 1 and 2 receptors (TβR1 and TβR2), thus highlighting a possible mechanism by which ZNF224 could enhance the endogenous TGFβ/Smad signalling. Conclusions: Our results provide evidence for the involvement of ZNF224 in TGF-β signalling as a mediator of TGF-β pro-oncogenic function and unveil a positive regulatory loop between TGF-β and ZNF224 to promote EMT, consequently increasing the tumour metastatic potential.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yueyuan Zheng ◽  
Guowei Huang ◽  
Tiago C. Silva ◽  
Qian Yang ◽  
Yan-Yi Jiang ◽  
...  

AbstractCpG Island promoter genes make up more than half of human genes, and a subset regulated by Polycomb-Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2+-CGI) become DNA hypermethylated and silenced in cancer. Here, we perform a systematic analysis of CGI genes across TCGA cancer types, finding that PRC2+-CGI genes are frequently prone to transcriptional upregulation as well. These upregulated PRC2+-CGI genes control important pathways such as Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) and TNFα-associated inflammatory response, and have greater cancer-type specificity than other CGI genes. Using publicly available chromatin datasets and genetic perturbations, we show that transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs) within distal enhancers underlie transcriptional activation of PRC2+-CGI genes, coinciding with loss of the PRC2-associated mark H3K27me3 at the linked promoter. In contrast, PRC2-free CGI genes are predominantly regulated by promoter TFBSs which are common to most cancer types. Surprisingly, a large subset of PRC2+-CGI genes that are upregulated in one cancer type are also hypermethylated/silenced in at least one other cancer type, underscoring the high degree of regulatory plasticity of these genes, likely derived from their complex regulatory control during normal development.


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