scholarly journals THAP9-AS1/miR-133b/SOX4 positive feedback loop facilitates the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiwei Cheng ◽  
Haibo Ma ◽  
Ming Yan ◽  
Wenqun Xing
Keyword(s):  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Malignant Tumors ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Positive Feedback Loop

AbstractEsophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most common malignant tumors in the digestive system with a high incidence and poor prognosis. Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNA) have been reported to be closely associated with the occurrence and development of various human cancers. Data from GSE89102 shows an increase of THAP9-AS1 expression in ESCC. However, its functions and mechanisms underlying ESCC progression remain to be investigated. In this study, we found that THAP9-AS1 was overexpressed in ESCC tissues and cells. High THAP9-AS1 expression was positively correlated with tumor size, TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and worse prognosis. Functionally, depletion of THAP9-AS1 suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, while enhanced apoptosis in vitro. Consistently, knockdown of THAP9-AS1 inhibited xenograft tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, THAP9-AS1 could serve as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-133b, resulting in the upregulation of SOX4. Reciprocally, SOX4 bound to the promoter region of THAP9-AS1 to activate its transcription. Moreover, the anti-tumor property induced by THAP9-AS1 knockdown was significantly impaired due to miR-133b downregulation or SOX4 overexpression. Taken together, our study reveals a positive feedback loop of THAP9-AS1/miR-133b/SOX4 to facilitate ESCC progression, providing a potential molecular target to fight against ESCC.

scholarly journals CircCNTNAP3-TP53-positive feedback loop suppresses malignant progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Wang ◽  
Xuming Song ◽  
Yajing Wang ◽  
Xuewen Yin ◽  
Yingkuan Liang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Positive Feedback ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Malignant Progression ◽  
Gene Transcript ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Positive Feedback Loop

AbstractMutation or downregulation of p53 (encoded by TP53) accelerates tumorigenesis and malignant progression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). However, it is still unknown whether circular RNAs (circRNAs), a novel class of endogenous noncoding RNAs, participate in the regulation of this progress. In this study, we explored the expression profiles of circRNAs in three paired samples of ESCC and identified cCNTNAP3, which is a circRNA that originates from the CNTNAP3 gene transcript and is highly expressed in normal human esophageal tissue. However, we found that the cCNTNAP3 expression level was significantly downregulated in ESCC tissues. In vitro and in vivo studies revealed that cCNTNAP3 inhibited proliferation and increased apoptosis in p53 wild-type ESCC cells, but not in mutant cells. Mechanistically, we found that cCNTNAP3 promotes the expression of p53 by sponging miR-513a-5p. Rescue assay confirmed that the suppressive function of cCNTNAP3 was dependent on miR-513a-5p. We also observed that p53/RBM25 participated in the formation of cCNTNAP3, which implied the existence of a positive feedback loop between cCNTNAP3 and p53. Furthermore, the downregulation of cCNTNAP3 was significantly correlated with later T stage and thus can serve as an independent risk factor for the overall survival of patients with p53 wild-type ESCC. In conclusion, the cCNTNAP3-TP53 positive feedback loop may provide a potential target for the management of ESCC, which also reveals the important role of circRNAs in the regulation of p53.

scholarly journals LncRNA GHET1 Promotes Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells Proliferation and Invasion via Induction of EMT

2017 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongfen Liu ◽  
Qiang Zhen ◽  
Yakun Fan
Keyword(s):  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Noncoding Rna ◽  
In Vitro Assays ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Advanced Tumor

Background Recent studies have shown that long noncoding RNA (IncRNA) gastric carcinoma highly expressed transcript 1 (GHET1) was involved in the progression of tumors. However, the role of GHET1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. Methods The expression of IncRNA GHET1 was examined in 55 paired ESCC tissues and adjacent nontumor tissues. Molecular and cellular techniques were used to explore the role of GHET1 on ESCC cells. Results Our data showed that GHET1 expression was significantly increased in ESCC tissues and cell lines. High GHET1 expression in ESCC tissues was significantly associated with poor differentiation, advanced tumor nodes metastasis stage, and lymph node metastasis. GHET1 showed high sensitivity and specificity for diagnosing ESCC. Our data from in vitro assays showed that GHET1 inhibition suppressed ESCC cells proliferation, migration, and invasion, and induced cells apoptosis. Furthermore, western blot showed that GHET1 inhibition significantly decreased the expression of vimentin and N-cadherin while it increased the expression of E-cadherin. Conclusions Our study indicates that GHET1 acts as an oncogene in ESCC and may represent a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of ESCC patients.

scholarly journals Long Non-Coding RNA CCAT2 Promotes the Development of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma by Inhibiting miR-200b to Upregulate the IGF2BP2/TK1 Axis

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodan Wu ◽  
Yihui Fan ◽  
Yupeng Liu ◽  
Biao Shen ◽  
Haimin Lu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Luciferase Reporter ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Non Coding Rna

Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to play important roles in human cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). In the current study, we identified CCAT2 as a relevant lncRNA and investigated its role in the progression of ESCC. RT-qPCR was adopted to detect CCAT2 expression in collected clinical samples, ESCC cell lines, and a normal cell line. We tested the correlation between CCAT2 expression and the prognosis of ESCC. RT-qPCR or immunoblotting was adopted to detect the expression of relevant factors in ESCC tissues or cells. Cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion were examined by colony formation assay, flow cytometry, scratch assay, and Transwell assay, respectively, while subcutaneous tumorigenesis in nude mice was adopted to examine the role of CCAT2 in tumorigenesis of ESCC cells in vivo. Bioinformatics analysis, dual luciferase reporter assay, and RIP were conducted for the target relationship profiling. Me-RIP was adopted to detect m6A modification level of TK1 in ESCC tissues or cells. Upregulated CCAT2, IGF2BP2, and TK1 expression and inhibited miR-200b expression were observed in ESCC cells and tissues. CCAT2 bound to miR-200b and reduced its expression, leading to upregulated IGF2BP2 expression. IGF2BP2 improved TK1 mRNA stability to enhance its expression by recognizing its m6A modification. CCAT2 promoted the migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro, and tumorigenesis in vivo by upregulating TK1 expression, while overexpression of miR-200b reversed these effects of CCAT2. Overall, this study suggests that CCAT2 competitively binds to miR-200b to alleviate its inhibitory effects on IGF2BP2 expression, resulting in elevated TK1 expression, and an ensuing promotion of the development of ESCC.

scholarly journals Exosomal lncRNA ZFAS1 regulates esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell proliferation, invasion, migration and apoptosis via microRNA-124/STAT3 axis

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhirong Li ◽  
Xuebo Qin ◽  
Wei Bian ◽  
Yishuai Li ◽  
Baoen Shan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cell Proliferation ◽  
Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Tumor Growth ◽  
Cell Carcinoma ◽  
Squamous Cell ◽  
Migration And Invasion ◽  
Donor Cells

Abstract Background In recent years, long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are of great importance in development of different types of tumors, while the function of lncRNA ZFAS1 is rarely discussed in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Therefore, we performed this study to explore the expression of exosomal lncRNA ZFAS1 and its molecular mechanism on ESCC progression. Methods Expression of ZFAS1 and miR-124 in ESCC tissues was detected. LncRNA ZFAS1 was silenced to detect its function in the biological functions of ESCC cells. A stable donor and recipient culture model was established. Eca109 cells transfected with overexpressed and low expressed ZFAS1 plasmid and miR-124 inhibitor labeled by Cy3 were the donor cells, and then co-cultured with recipient cells to observe the transmission of Cy3-ZFAS1 between donor cells and recipient cells. The changes of cell proliferation, apoptosis, invasion, and migration in recipient cells were detected. The in vivo experiment was conducted for verifying the in vitro results. Results LncRNA ZFAS1 was upregulated and miR-124 was down-regulated in ESCC tissues. Silencing of ZFAS1 contributed to suppressed proliferation, migration, invasion and tumor growth in vitro and induced apoptosis of ESCC cells. LncRNA ZFAS1 was considered to be a competing endogenous RNA to regulate miR-124, thereby elevating STAT3 expression. Exosomes shuttled ZFAS1 stimulated proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells and restricted their apoptosis with increased STAT3 and declined miR-124. Furthermore, in vivo experiment suggested that elevated ZFAS1-exo promoted tumor growth in nude mice. Conclusion This study highlights that exosomal ZFAS1 promotes the proliferation, migration and invasion of ESCC cells and inhibits their apoptosis by upregulating STAT3 and downregulating miR-124, thereby resulting in the development of tumorigenesis of ESCC.

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