Loss of TIMP3 by promoter methylation of Sp1 binding site promotes oral cancer metastasis

Abstract The tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-3 (TIMP3) is the only member of the TIMP family that binds to the extracellular matrix and suppresses cancer cell growth, angiogenesis, migration, and invasion. However, whether the abnormal expression and promoter methylation of TIMP3 facilitates oral cancer metastasis remain unclear. In this study, the DNA methylation levels of TIMP3 CpG islands were assessed through pyrosequencing. Artificial modulation of TIMP3 was performed to explore the role of TIMP3 in tumor metastasis in vitro and in vivo. Our results showed that the suppression of TIMP3 transcription by DNA methylation involves the inhibition of the binding of the transcription factor Sp1 to the TIMP3 promoter as well as the upregulation of DNMT1 and DNMT3B. Functional analyses revealed that TIMP3 overexpression reduced migration and invasion abilities in oral cancer cells and inhibited lymph node metastasis in vivo. Moreover, TIMP3 regulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition by increasing the expression of the epithelial markers and reducing the expression of the mesenchymal markers. In conclusion, our findings suggested that the suppression of TIMP3 by DNA methylation contributes to oral cancer metastasis.

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Knockdown of ARK5 Expression Suppresses Invasion and Metastasis of Gastric Cancer

Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1159/000478685 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 42 (3) ◽

pp. 1025-1036 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Dehu Chen ◽

Guiyuan Liu ◽

Ning Xu ◽

Xiaolan You ◽

Haihua Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gastric Cancer ◽

Western Blot ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Ags Cells ◽

Mesenchymal Transition

Background/Aims: Gastric cancer (GC) is a common and lethal malignancy, and AMP-activated protein kinase-related kinase 5 (ARK5) has been discovered to promote cancer metastasis in certain types of cancer. In this study, we explored the role of ARK5 in GC invasion and metastasis. Methods: ARK5 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related markers were determined by immunohistochemistry and western blot in GC specimens. Other methods including stably transfected against ARK5 into SGC7901 and AGS cells, western blot, migration and invasion assays in vitro and nude mice tumorigenicity in vivo were also employed. Results: The results demonstrated that ARK5 expression was increased and positively correlated with metastasis, EMT-related markers and poor prognosis in patients with GC. Knockdown of ARK5 expression remarkably suppressed GC cells invasion and metastasis via regulating EMT, rather than proliferation in vitro and in vivo. And knockdown of ARK5 expression in GC cells resulted in the down-regulation of the mTOR/p70S6k signals, Slug and SIP1. Conclusion: The elevated ARK5 expression was closely associated with cancer metastasis and patient survival, and it seemed to function in GC cells migration and invasion via EMT alteration, together with the alteration of the mTOR/p70S6k signals, Slug and SIP1, thus providing a potential therapeutic target for GC.

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Overexpressed P75CUX1 promotes EMT in glioma infiltration by activating β-catenin

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-021-03424-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Anqi Xu ◽

Xizhao Wang ◽

Jie Luo ◽

Mingfeng Zhou ◽

Renhui Yi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Tumor Grade ◽

Prognostic Indicator ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Poor Overall Survival ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Kaplan Meier ◽

Homeobox Protein

AbstractThe homeobox protein cut-like 1 (CUX1) comprises three isoforms and has been shown to be involved in the development of various types of malignancies. However, the expression and role of the CUX1 isoforms in glioma remain unclear. Herein, we first identified that P75CUX1 isoform exhibited consistent expression among three isoforms in glioma with specifically designed antibodies to identify all CUX1 isoforms. Moreover, a significantly higher expression of P75CUX1 was found in glioma compared with non-tumor brain (NB) tissues, analyzed with western blot and immunohistochemistry, and the expression level of P75CUX1 was positively associated with tumor grade. In addition, Kaplan–Meier survival analysis indicated that P75CUX1 could serve as an independent prognostic indicator to identify glioma patients with poor overall survival. Furthermore, CUX1 knockdown suppressed migration and invasion of glioma cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, this study found that P75CUX1 regulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) process mediated via β-catenin, and CUX1/β-catenin/EMT is a novel signaling cascade mediating the infiltration of glioma. Besides, CUX1 was verified to promote the progression of glioma via multiple other signaling pathways, such as Hippo and PI3K/AKT. In conclusion, we suggested that P75CUX1 could serve as a potential prognostic indicator as well as a novel treatment target in malignant glioma.

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Upregulation of FBXW7 Suppresses Renal Cancer Metastasis and Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition

Disease Markers ◽

10.1155/2017/8276939 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2017 ◽

pp. 1-7 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yangke Cai ◽

Meng Zhang ◽

Xiaofu Qiu ◽

Bingwei Wang ◽

Yu Fu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Lines ◽

Renal Cell ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Coding Region ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Renal Cell Line ◽

Emt Markers

Background and Objective. FBXW7, known as a general tumor suppressor, is commonly lowly expressed in metastatic malignancies. We aim to investigate the potential influence of FBXW7 overexpression on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) metastasis. Methods. We employed quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting (WB) to quantify the FBXW7 expression in RCC cell lines. Upregulation of FBXW7 was performed in vitro on RCC cells using the lentivirus covering coding region FBXW7 cDNA sequence, and functional tests were performed to verify FBXW7 overexpression on migration and invasion of RCC cells. Moreover, WB was employed to determine the expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, and MMP-13, as well as EMT markers in the transfected RCC cells. Results. FBXW7 was significantly downregulated in RCC cell lines, dominated by 786-O and ACHN, when compared to normal renal cell line HK-2. Moreover, upregulation of FBXW7 in 786-O and ACHN cell lines significantly inhibited cell migration and invasion, as well as EMT. Present study also showed that FBXW7 was involved in the migration and invasion of RCC cells via regulating the expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9, and MMP-13. Conclusion. Our findings demonstrate that upregulation of FBXW7 inhibits RCC metastasis and EMT. FBXW7 is a potential therapeutic target for RCC patients.

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Scorpion inhibits epithelial–mesenchymal transition and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma

Experimental Biology and Medicine ◽

10.1177/1535370218762514 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 243 (7) ◽

pp. 645-654 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Yi-Quan Yan ◽

Juan Xie ◽

Jing-Fu Wang ◽

Zhao-Feng Shi ◽

Xiang Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Hepatocellular Carcinoma ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Unfavorable Clinical Outcome ◽

Metastasis Models ◽

Tumor Growth And Metastasis

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most malignant diseases worldwide. The unfavorable clinical outcome and poor prognosis are due to high rates of recurrence and metastasis after treatments. Some scholars of traditional Chinese medicine suggested that endogenous wind-evil had played an important role in metastasis of malignant tumor. Therefore, the drug of dispelling wind-evil could be used to prevent cancer metastasis and improve the poor prognosis. So we wondered whether Scorpion, one of the most important wind calming drugs, has antitumor effect especially in epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis of HCC in this research. We found that Scorpion-medicated serum could inhibit proliferation, induce apoptosis, and decrease migration and invasion capacity of Hepa1-6 cells in vitro. Meanwhile, we observed that water decoction of Scorpion restrained tumor growth and metastasis in nude mouse of HCC metastasis models. Further experiments showed that Scorpion could suppress EMT, which is characterized by increased epithelial marker E-cadherin expression and decreased mesenchymal markers N-cadherin and Snail expression following Scorpion treatment both in vitro and in vivo. These results suggested that the Scorpion could inhibit Hepa1-6 cells’ invasion and metastasis in part by reversing EMT and providing a possible potential approach for preventing HCC metastasis. Impact statement The unfavorable clinical outcome and poor prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) are due to high rates of recurrence and metastasis after treatments. Here we found Scorpion, one of the most important wind calming drugs, has antitumor effect. Scorpion-medicated serum inhibited the proliferation, induced apoptosis, and decreased migration and invasion capacity of Hepa1-6 cells in vitro. Water decoction of Scorpion restrained tumor growth and metastasis in nude mouse of HCC metastasis models. Further experiments showed that Scorpion could suppress EMT of HCC both in vitro and in vivo. Our results suggested that the Scorpion could inhibit Hepa1-6 cells’ invasion and metastasis in part by reversing EMT and providing a possible potential approach for preventing HCC metastasis.

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Snail Driving Alternative Splicing of CD44 by ESRP1 Enhances Invasion and Migration in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer

Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry ◽

10.1159/000484458 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 43 (6) ◽

pp. 2489-2504 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Le Chen ◽

Ying Yao ◽

Lijuan Sun ◽

Jiajia Zhou ◽

Minmin Miao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Ovarian Cancer ◽

Alternative Splicing ◽

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Regulatory Protein ◽

Cell Counting ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Mesenchymal Transition

Background/Aims: Our study aims to investigate the role, effect and mechanisms of ESRP1 (epithelial splicing regulatory protein 1) in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods: Microarray and immunohistochemical analysis of ESRP1 expression were performed in EOC cases. The correlations between ESRP1 expression and clinical factors on EOC were assessed. Lentivirus-mediated RNA interference and EGFP vector which contains ESRP1 gene were used to down-regulate and up-regulate ESRP1 expression in human EOC cell lines. Roles of ESRP1 in cell growth, migration and invasion of EOC cells were also measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 and Transwell systems in vitro and by a nude mice intraperitoneal transplantation model in vivo. Results: By the analysis of Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) (p<0.05) and our own microarray data (p<0.001), ESRP1 expression in EOC was significantly different from normal ovarian tissue. It was abundant in the nuclei of cancer cells and in malignant lesions. However, it was weakly expressed or negative in both normal and benign lesions. High ESRP1 expression in EOC was associated with poor clinical outcomes. Decreased ESRP1 expression significantly increased cell migration and invasion both in vivo and in vitro. Snail strongly repressed ESRP1 transcription through binding to the ESRP1 promoter in EOC cells. Furthermore, ESRP1 regulated the expression of CD44s. Down-regulated ESRP1 resulted in an isoform switching from CD44v to CD44s, which modulated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program in EOC. Up-regulatin of ESRP1 was detected in mesenchymal to epithelial transition (MET) in vivo. Conclusions: ESRP1 regulates CD44 alternative splicing during the EMT process which plays an important role in EOC carcinogenesis. In addition, ESRP1 is associated with disease prognosis in EOC.

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Augmented EPR effect post IRFA to enhance the therapeutic efficacy of arsenic loaded ZIF-8 nanoparticles on residual HCC progression

Journal of Nanobiotechnology ◽

10.1186/s12951-021-01161-3 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xuehua Chen ◽

Yongquan Huang ◽

Hui Chen ◽

Ziman Chen ◽

Jiaxin Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Residual Tumor ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Therapeutic Effects ◽

New Paradigm ◽

Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Epr Effect

Abstract Background Insufficient radiofrequency ablation (IRFA) can promote the local recurrence and distal metastasis of residual hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which makes clinical treatment extremely challenging. In this study, the malignant transition of residual tumors after IRFA was explored. Then, arsenic-loaded zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 nanoparticles (As@ZIF-8 NPs) were constructed, and their therapeutic effect on residual tumors was studied. Results Our data showed that IRFA can dramatically promote the proliferation, induce the metastasis, activate the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and accelerate the angiogenesis of residual tumors. Interestingly, we found, for the first time, that extensive angiogenesis after IRFA can augment the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect and enhance the enrichment of ZIF-8 nanocarriers in residual tumors. Encouraged by this unique finding, we successfully prepared As@ZIF-8 NPs with good biocompatibility and confirmed that they were more effective than free arsenic trioxide (ATO) in sublethal heat-induced cell proliferation suppression, apoptosis induction, cell migration and invasion inhibition, and EMT reversal in vitro. Furthermore, compared with free ATO, As@ZIF-8 NPs exhibited remarkably increased therapeutic effects by repressing residual tumor growth and metastasis in vivo. Conclusions This work provides a new paradigm for the treatment of residual HCC after IRFA. Graphical Abstract

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Circular RNA CDR1as Inhibits the Metastasis of Gastric Cancer through Targeting miR-876-5p/GNG7 Axis

Gastroenterology Research and Practice ◽

10.1155/2021/5583029 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2021 ◽

pp. 1-13

Author(s):

Jiajia Jiang ◽

Rong Li ◽

Junyi Wang ◽

Jie Hou ◽

Hui Qian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gastric Cancer ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Circular Rna ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Luciferase Reporter Gene ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Underlying Mechanisms

Circular RNA CDR1as has been demonstrated to participate in various cancer progressions as miRNA sponges. The exact underlying mechanisms of CDR1as on gastric cancer (GC) metastasis remain unknown. Here, we found that CDR1as knockdown facilitated GC cell migration and invasion while its overexpression inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of GC cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, epithelial-mesenchymal transition- (EMT-) associated proteins and MMP2 and MMP9 were downregulated by CDR1as. Bioinformatics analysis combined with dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, western blot, RT-qPCR analysis, and functional rescue experiments demonstrated that CDR1as served as a miR-876-5p sponge and upregulated the target gene GNG7 expression to suppress GC metastasis. In summary, our findings indicate that CDR1as suppresses GC metastasis through the CDR1as/miR-876-5p/GNG7 axis.

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CD36 promotes the epithelial–mesenchymal transition and metastasis in cervical cancer by interacting with TGF-β

Journal of Translational Medicine ◽

10.1186/s12967-019-2098-6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Min Deng ◽

Xiaodong Cai ◽

Ling Long ◽

Linying Xie ◽

Hongmei Ma ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cervical Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Expression Levels ◽

Cd36 Expression ◽

Cervical Cancer Cells

Abstract Background Accumulating evidence indicates that CD36 initiates metastasis and correlates with an unfavorable prognosis in cancers. However, there are few reports regarding the roles of CD36 in initiation and metastasis of cervical cancer. Methods Using immunohistochemistry, we analyzed 133 cervical cancer samples for CD36 protein expression levels, and then investigated the correlation between changes in its expression and clinicopathologic parameters. The effect of CD36 expression on the epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cervical cancer cells was evaluated by Western immunoblotting analysis. In vitro invasion and in vivo metastasis assays were also used to evaluate the role of CD36 in cervical cancer metastasis. Results In the present study, we confirmed that CD36 was highly expressed in cervical cancer samples relative to normal cervical tissues. Moreover, overexpression of CD36 promoted invasiveness and metastasis of cervical cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, while CD36 knockdown suppressed proliferation, migration, and invasiveness. We demonstrated that TGF-β treatment attenuated E-cadherin expression and enhanced the expression levels of CD36, vimentin, slug, snail, and twist in si-SiHa, si-HeLa, and C33a–CD36 cells, suggesting that TGF-β synergized with CD36 on EMT via active CD36 expression. We also observed that the expression levels of TGF-β in si-SiHa cells and si-HeLa cells were down-regulated, whereas the expression levels of TGF-β were up-regulated in C33a–CD36 cells. These results imply that CD36 and TGF-β interact with each other to promote the EMT in cervical cancer. Conclusions Our findings suggest that CD36 is likely to be an effective target for guiding individualized clinical therapy of cervical cancer.

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Inhibitor of DNA-Binding Protein 4 Suppresses Cancer Metastasis through the Regulation of Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition in Lung Adenocarcinoma

Cancers ◽

10.3390/cancers11122021 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (12) ◽

pp. 2021 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Chi-Chung Wang ◽

Yuan-Ling Hsu ◽

Chi-Jen Chang ◽

Chia-Jen Wang ◽

Tzu-Hung Hsiao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lung Cancer ◽

Dna Binding ◽

Lung Adenocarcinoma ◽

Cancer Metastasis ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Inhibitor Of Dna Binding ◽

E Cadherin

Metastasis is a predominant cause of cancer death and the major challenge in treating lung adenocarcinoma (LADC). Therefore, exploring new metastasis-related genes and their action mechanisms may provide new insights for developing a new combative approach to treat lung cancer. Previously, our research team discovered that the expression of the inhibitor of DNA binding 4 (Id4) was inversely related to cell invasiveness in LADC cells by cDNA microarray screening. However, the functional role of Id4 and its mechanism of action in lung cancer metastasis remain unclear. In this study, we report that the expression of Id4 could attenuate cell migration and invasion in vitro and cancer metastasis in vivo. Detailed analyses indicated that Id4 could promote E-cadherin expression through the binding of Slug, cause the occurrence of mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET), and inhibit cancer metastasis. Moreover, the examination of the gene expression database (GSE31210) also revealed that high-level expression of Id4/E-cadherin and low-level expression of Slug were associated with a better clinical outcome in LADC patients. In summary, Id4 may act as a metastatic suppressor, which could not only be used as an independent predictor but also serve as a potential therapeutic for LADC treatment.

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β-Sitosterol and Gemcitabine Exhibit Synergistic Anti-pancreatic Cancer Activity by Modulating Apoptosis and Inhibiting Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition by Deactivating Akt/GSK-3β Signaling

Frontiers in Pharmacology ◽

10.3389/fphar.2018.01525 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Zhang-qi Cao ◽

Xue-xi Wang ◽

Li Lu ◽

Jing-wen Xu ◽

Xiao-bin Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pancreatic Cancer ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Human Cancer ◽

Combined Treatment ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Gsk 3Β ◽

Cancer Activity

β-sitosterol (BS), a major bioactive constituent present in plants, has shown potent anti-cancer activity against many human cancer cells, but its activity in pancreatic cancer (PC) cells has rarely been reported. Gemcitabine (GEM) is one of the first-line drugs for PC therapy, however, the treatment effect is not sustained due to prolonged drug resistance. In this study, we firstly studied the anti-PC activity and the mechanism of BS alone and in combination with GEM in vitro and in vivo. BS effectively inhibited the growth of PC cell lines by inhibiting proliferation, inducing G0/G1 phase arrest and apoptosis, suppressed the NF- kB activity, and increased expression of the protein Bax but decreased expression of the protein Bcl-2. Moreover, BS inhibited migration and invasion and downregulated epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers and AKT/GSK-3β signaling pathways. Furthermore, the combination of BS and GEM exhibited a significant synergistic effect in MIAPaCa-2 and BXPC-3 cells. More importantly, the combined treatment with BS and GEM lead to significant growth inhibition of PC xenografts. Overall, our data revealed a promising treatment option for PC by the combination therapy of BS and GEM.

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