scholarly journals ALKBH5-mediated m6A demethylation of KCNK15-AS1 inhibits pancreatic cancer progression via regulating KCNK15 and PTEN/AKT signaling

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuan He ◽  
HongQin Yue ◽  
Ying Cheng ◽  
Zhilong Ding ◽  
Zhen Xu ◽  
...  

AbstractLong noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are regarded as crucial regulators in tumor progression. Potassium two pore domain channel subfamily K member 15 and WISP2 antisense RNA 1 (KCNK15-AS1) has been confirmed to inhibit the migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer (PC) cells. However, its downstream mechanism and effect on other cellular functions in PC remain unknown. This study probed the function and potential mechanism of KCNK15-AS1 in PC cell growth. RT-qPCR and western blot were employed to measure gene expression in PC cells. ISH was applied to analyze KCNK15-AS1 expression in PC tissues. Functional assays were utilized to evaluate PC cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration and EMT. Mechanical experiments were adopted to detect gene interaction in PC cells. The obtained data indicated that KCNK15-AS1 was down-regulated in PC cells and tissues. Overexpressing KCNK15-AS1 hindered cell proliferation, migration and EMT while facilitated cell apoptosis in PC. Mechanically, alkylation repair homolog protein 5 (ALKBH5) was verified to induce m6A demethylation of KCNK15-AS1 to mediate KCNK15-AS1 up-regulation. KCNK15-AS1 combined with KCNK15 5’UTR to inhibit KCNK15 translation. Moreover, KCNK15-AS1 recruited MDM2 proto-oncogene (MDM2) to promote RE1 silencing transcription factor (REST) ubiquitination, thus transcriptionally upregulating phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) to inactivate AKT pathway. In conclusion, our study first confirmed that KCNK15-AS1 hinders PC cell growth by regulating KCNK15 and PTEN, suggesting KCNK15-AS1 as a potential biomarker of PC.

Author(s):  
Shan Lei ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Tengxiang Chen ◽  
Xingjun Guo ◽  
Zhirui Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Accumulation evidence indicates the vital role of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in tumorigenesis and the progression of malignant tumors, including pancreatic cancer (PC). However, the role and the molecular mechanism of long non-coding RNA 00976 is unclear in pancreatic cancer. Methods In situ hybridization (ISH) and qRT-PCR was performed to investigate the association between linc00976 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of patients with PC. Subsequently, linc00976 over-expression vector and shRNAs were transfected into PC cells to up-regulate or down-regulate linc00976 expression. Loss- and gain-of function assays were performed to investigate the role of linc00976 in proliferation and metastasis in vitro and vivo. ITRAQ, bioinformatic analysis and rescue assay were used to illustrate the ceRNA mechanism network of linc00976/miR-137/OTUD7B and its downstream EGFR/MAPK signaling pathway. Results linc00976 expression was overexpressed in PC tissues and cell lines and was positively associated with poorer survival in patients with PC. Function studies revealed that linc00976 knockdown significantly suppressed cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vivo and in vitro, whereas its overexpression reversed these effects. Based on Itraq results and online database prediction, Ovarian tumor proteases OTUD7B was found as a downstream gene of linc00976, which deubiquitinated EGFR mediates MAPK signaling activation. Furthermore, Bioinformatics analysis and luciferase assays and rescue experiments revealed that linc00976/miR137/OTUD7B established the ceRNA network modulating PC cell proliferation and tumor growth. Conclusion The present study demonstrates that linc00976 enhances the proliferation and invasion ability of PC cells by upregulating OTUD7B expression, which was a target of miR-137. Ultimately, OTUD7B mediates EGFR and MAPK signaling pathway, suggesting that linc00976/miR-137/OTUD7B/EGFR axis may act as a potential biomarker and therapeutic target for PC.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenpeng Cao ◽  
Zhirui Zeng ◽  
Runsang Pan ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Hypoxia participated in the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer (PC). However, genes associated with hypoxia respond and their regulated mechanism in PC cells were unclear. The current research was aimed to illuminate the role and hypoxia regulated mechanism of fucosyltransferase 11 (FUT11) in the progression of PC.Methods: After predicting FUT11 as a key hypoxia associated gene in PC using bioinformatics analysis. The expression of FUT11 in PC using quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. The effects of FUT11 on PC cells proliferation, migration and invasion under normoxia and hypoxia were detected using Cell Counting Kit 8, 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine assay, colony formation assay and transwell assay. Spleen capsule injected liver metastasis and subcutaneously injected model were performed to confirm the effects of FUT11 in vivo. Furthermore, western blot, luciferase assay and immunoprecipitation were performed to explore the regulated relationship among FUT11, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) in PC.Results: FUT11 was markedly increased of PC cells in hypoxia, up-regulated in the PC clinical tissues, and predicted a poor outcome. Inhibition of FUT11 reduced PC cell growth and mobility of PC cells under normoxia and hypoxia conditions in vitro, and growth and mobility in vivo. FUT11 bind with PDK1 and regulated the expression PDK1 under normoxia and hypoxia. FUT11 knockdown significantly increased the degradation rate of PDK1 under hypoxia, while treatment with MG132 can relieve the degradation of PDK1 induced by FUT11 knockdown. Overexpression of PDK1 in PC cells under hypoxia conditions reversed the suppressiv impacts of FUT11 knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility. In addition, HIF1α bound to the enhancer of FUT11 and increased its expression, as well as co-expressing with FUT11 in PC tissues. Furthermore, overexpress of FUT11 partially rescued the suppressiv effects of HIF1α knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility in hypoxia conditions.Conclusion: Our data further implicate that hypoxia-induced FUT11 in PC contributes to proliferation and metastasis by maintaining the stability of PDK1, and suggest FUT11 maybe a novel and effective target for treatment of pancreatic cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhiping Fu ◽  
Xing Liang ◽  
Ligang Shi ◽  
Liang Tang ◽  
Danlei Chen ◽  
...  

AbstractPancreatic cancer is a highly lethal malignancy due to failures of early detection and high metastasis in patients. While certain genetic mutations in tumors are associated with severity, the molecular mechanisms responsible for cancer progression are still poorly understood. Synaptotagmin-8 (SYT8) is a membrane protein that regulates hormone secretion and neurotransmission, and its expression is positively regulated by the promoter of the insulin gene in pancreatic islet cells. In this study, we identified a previously unknown role of SYT8 in altering tumor characteristics in pancreatic cancer. SYT8 levels were upregulated in patient tumors and contributed towards increased cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Increased SYT8 expression also promoted tumor metastasis in an in vivo tumor metastasis model. Furthermore, we showed that SYT8-mediated increase in tumorigenicity was regulated by SIRT1, a protein deacetylase previously known to alter cell metabolism in pancreatic lesions. SIRT1 expression was altered by orphan nuclear receptor ERRα and troponin-1 (TNNI2), resulting in cell proliferation and migration in an SYT8-dependent manner. Together, we identified SYT8 to be a central regulator of tumor progression involving signaling via the SIRT1, ERRα, and TNNI2 axis. This knowledge may provide the basis for the development of therapeutic strategies to restrict tumor metastasis in pancreatic cancer.


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-240
Author(s):  
Li Junjian ◽  
Xu Qigang ◽  
Tao Chonglin

In this study, we investigated the role of curcumin in pancreatic cancer through the regulation of miR-21-5p. We first evaluated the expression of miR-21-5p in pancreatic cancer cells (ASPC-1) treated with different concentrations of curcumin. The results showed that curcumin effectively inhibited the expression of miR-21-5p in ASPC-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. B cell translocation gene 2 was identified as a target gene of miR-21-5p. MiR-21-5p mimics could promote cell proliferation, migration, and invasion of ASPC-1, as well as decrease the expression of B cell translocation gene 2. Curcumin treatment inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion of ASPC-1, as well as increased the expression of B cell translocation gene 2. MiR-21-5p could reverse the inhibitory activities of curcumin on ASPC-1 cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. In conclusion, curcumin is capable of inhibiting the proliferation, migration and invasion of pancreatic cancer cells via down-regulating miR-21-5p-mediated B cell translocation gene 2.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xian Hong ◽  
Zhi-Xuan Li ◽  
Jie Hou ◽  
Hui-Yu Zhang ◽  
Chun-Yan Zhang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Anterior gradient-2 (AGR2) is a proto-oncogene involved in tumorigenesis and cancer progression. AGR2, predominantly localized in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), is also a secreted protein detected in the extracellular compartment in multiple cancers. However, the biological functions of intracellular and extracellular AGR2 remain to be elucidated. Methods Based on the biochemical structure of AGR2 protein, PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells stably expressing ER-resident or secreted AGR2 were generated by a lentivirus-mediated stable overexpression system. The capacities of cell proliferation, migration, invasion and survival were assessed in PANC-1 stable cells. Moreover, EGFR expression and activation were determined to explore the possible mechanism of AGR2 roles in pancreatic cancer tumorigenesis. Results It was discovered that secreted AGR2, but not ER-resident AGR2, promotes cell proliferation, migration and invasion of PANC-1 cells. Moreover, the data indicated that both the ER-resident and the secreted AGR2 enhance the survival capacity of PANC-1 cells after tunicamycin-induced ER stress and gemcitabine treatment. However, EGFR expression and activation were not found to be involved in AGR2-dependent oncogenic phenotypes in PANC-1 cells. Conclusions Secreted AGR2 is predominantly involved in cell proliferation, migration and invasion in PANC-1 pancreatic cancer cells. Both secreted and ER-resident AGR2 contribute to the survival of PANC-1 cells under the challenging conditions. These findings provide insight into how different localizations of AGR2 have contributed to pancreatic cancer growth, metastasis, and drug sensitivity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenpeng Cao ◽  
Zhirui Zeng ◽  
Runsang Pan ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Hypoxia participated in the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer (PC). However, genes associated with hypoxia respond and their regulated mechanism in PC cells were unclear. The current research was aimed to illuminate the role and hypoxia regulated mechanism of fucosyltransferase 11 (FUT11) in the progression of PC.Methods: After predicting FUT11 as a key hypoxia associated gene in PC using bioinformatics analysis. The expression of FUT11 in PC using quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. The effects of FUT11 on PC cells proliferation, migration and invasion under normoxia and hypoxia were detected using Cell Counting Kit 8, 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine assay, colony formation assay and transwell assay. Spleen capsule injected liver metastasis and subcutaneously injected model were performed to confirm the effects of FUT11 in vivo. Furthermore, western blot, luciferase assay and immunoprecipitation were performed to explore the regulated relationship among FUT11, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) in PC.Results: FUT11 was markedly increased of PC cells in hypoxia, up-regulated in the PC clinical tissues, and predicted a poor outcome. Inhibition of FUT11 reduced PC cell growth and mobility of PC cells under normoxia and hypoxia conditions in vitro, and growth and mobility in vivo. FUT11 bind with PDK1 and regulated the expression PDK1 under normoxia and hypoxia. FUT11 knockdown significantly increased the degradation rate of PDK1 under hypoxia, while treatment with MG132 can relieve the degradation of PDK1 induced by FUT11 knockdown. Overexpression of PDK1 in PC cells under hypoxia conditions reversed the suppressiv impacts of FUT11 knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility. In addition, HIF1α bound to the enhancer of FUT11 and increased its expression, as well as co-expressing with FUT11 in PC tissues. Furthermore, overexpress of FUT11 partially rescued the suppressiv effects of HIF1α knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility in hypoxia conditions.Conclusion: Our data further implicate that hypoxia-induced FUT11 in PC contributes to proliferation and metastasis by maintaining the stability of PDK1, and suggest FUT11 maybe a novel and effective target for treatment of pancreatic cancer.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenpeng Cao ◽  
Zhirui Zeng ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Runsang Pan ◽  
Hao Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Hypoxia participated in the occurrence and development of pancreatic cancer (PC). However, genes associated with hypoxia respond and their regulated mechanism in PC cells were unclear. The current research was aimed to illuminate the role and hypoxia regulated mechanism of fucosyltransferase 11 (FUT11) in the progression of PC.Methods: After predicting FUT11 as a key hypoxia associated gene in PC using bioinformatics analysis. The expression of FUT11 in PC using quantitative real-time fluorescent PCR, western blot and immunohistochemistry. The effects of FUT11 on PC cells proliferation, migration and invasion under normoxia and hypoxia were detected using Cell Counting Kit 8, 5-ethynyl-2’-deoxyuridine assay, colony formation assay and transwell assay. Spleen capsule injected liver metastasis and subcutaneously injected model were performed to confirm the effects of FUT11 in vivo. Furthermore, western blot, luciferase assay and immunoprecipitation were performed to explore the regulated relationship among FUT11, hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α) and pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1) in PC.Results: FUT11 was markedly increased of PC cells in hypoxia, up-regulated in the PC clinical tissues, and predicted a poor outcome. Inhibition of FUT11 reduced PC cell growth and mobility of PC cells under normoxia and hypoxia conditions in vitro, and growth and mobility in vivo. FUT11 bind with PDK1 and regulated the expression PDK1 under normoxia and hypoxia. FUT11 knockdown significantly increased the degradation rate of PDK1 under hypoxia, while treatment with MG132 can relieve the degradation of PDK1 induced by FUT11 knockdown. Overexpression of PDK1 in PC cells under hypoxia conditions reversed the suppressiv impacts of FUT11 knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility. In addition, HIF1α bound to the enhancer of FUT11 and increased its expression, as well as co-expressing with FUT11 in PC tissues. Furthermore, overexpress of FUT11 partially rescued the suppressiv effects of HIF1α knockdown on PC cell growth and mobility in hypoxia conditions.Conclusion: Our data further implicate that hypoxia-induced FUT11 in PC contributes to proliferation and metastasis by maintaining the stability of PDK1, and suggest FUT11 maybe a novel and effective target for treatment of pancreatic cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ming Chang ◽  
Dan Zhu ◽  
Yanjiang Chen ◽  
Weiquan Zhang ◽  
Xi Liu ◽  
...  

Litchi seeds have been traditionally used in Chinese herbal formula for urologic neoplasms including prostate cancer (PCa). However, the effective components of Litchi seeds and the mechanisms of their actions on PCa cell growth and metastasis remain unclear. In this study, we investigated the effects and molecular mechanisms of the Total Flavonoid of Litchi Seed (TFLS) in PCa PC3 and DU145 cell lines. We found that TFLS significantly inhibited the PCa cell proliferation, induced apoptosis, and prevented cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, we observed that TFLS upregulated the expression of epithelial biomarker E-cadherin and downregulated mesenchymal biomarker Vimentin. TFLS also increased the expression of cleaved-PRAP and Bax, and decreased the expression of Bcl-2 in both PC3 and DU145 cells. Besides, TFLS inhibited AKT signaling pathway by reducing the phosphorylation of AKT and activities of downstream signal transducers including mTOR, IκBα and NF-kB. Finally, TFLS treated mice exhibited a significant decrease in tumor size without toxicity in major organs in vivo. These results indicated that TFLS could suppress PCa cell growth in vivo and inhibit PCa cell proliferation and metastasis in vitro through induction of apoptosis and phenotypic reversal of EMT, which may be achieved by inhibiting the AKT/mTOR and NF-κB signaling pathways. Taken together, our data provide new insights into the role of TFLS as a novel potent anti-cancer agent for the treatment of PCa.


Tumor Biology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (3) ◽  
pp. 101042831769454 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jialin Cheng ◽  
Min Su ◽  
Yunfeng Jin ◽  
Qinghua Xi ◽  
Yan Deng ◽  
...  

As a crucial member of the small ubiquitin-like modifier system, SUMO-specific protease 3, was identified to be essential for cell proliferation and ribosomal RNA processing. Recent studies showed that SUMO-specific protease 3 was elevated in ovarian cancer compared to normal tissue samples. However, the connection between SUMO-specific protease 3-specific expression and clinicopathological parameters of epithelial ovarian cancer, as well as the physiologically potential role of SUMO-specific protease 3 in epithelial ovarian cancer remained unclear. In this study, an analysis of 124 paraffin-embedded slices by immunohistochemistry indicated that SUMO-specific protease 3 expression was positively correlated with the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics stages (p = 0.025), tumor grade (p = 0.004), and lymph node metastasis (p = 0.001) and was also a critical prognostic factor for the overall survival of epithelial ovarian cancer patients, as revealed by Kaplan–Meier curve analysis. Knockdown of SUMO-specific protease 3 weakened the proliferation, migration, and invasion capability of ovarian cancer cells, down-regulated the expression of Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen, Forkhead Box C2, and N-cadherin, and resulted in upregulation of p21 and E-cadherin. Consistent with our results, SUMO-specific protease 3 had been verified to promote cell proliferation, metastasis, and tumorigenesis in multiple malignant cancers, which was a redox-sensitive molecule mediating the epithelial–mesenchymal transition. Collectively, our findings for the first time specifically supported that SUMO-specific protease 3 might play an important role in the regulation of epithelial ovarian cancer progression and could serve as a potential biomarker for prognosis as well as provide a promising therapeutic target against epithelial ovarian cancer.


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