scholarly journals CXCR7 promotes migration and invasion in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma by upregulating TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nayoung Kim ◽  
Hyewon Ryu ◽  
Solbi Kim ◽  
Mina Joo ◽  
Heung Jin Jeon ◽  
...  

AbstractThe chemokine receptor CXCR7 has been suggested to play important roles in the progression of several types of cancers. However, few studies have investigated the biological roles of CXCR7 in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). CXCR7 expression and its clinical implications were examined in 103 HNSCC tissues using immunohistochemistry (IHC). The biological roles and mechanisms of CXCR7-mediated signaling pathways were investigated in HNSCC cells through CXCR7 overexpression in vitro and in vivo. High expression of CXCR7 was significantly associated with tumor size (P = 0.007), lymph node metastasis (P = 0.004), and stage (P = 0.020) in HNSCC. Overexpression of CXCR7 in HNSCC cells enhanced cell migration and invasion in vitro and promoted lymph node metastasis in vivo. CXCR7 also induced epithelial–mesenchymal transition through PI3K/AKT. CXCR7 increased secretion of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and promoted EMT through phosphorylated Smad2/3. Taken together, our results provide functional and mechanistic roles of CXCR7 as a master regulator of oncogenic TGF-β1/Smad2/3 signaling in HNSCC, suggesting that CXCR7 might be a therapeutic target for the treatment of HNSCC.

2010 ◽  
Vol 286 (12) ◽  
pp. 10725-10734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhao-li Chen ◽  
Xiao-hong Zhao ◽  
Ji-wen Wang ◽  
Bao-zhong Li ◽  
Zhen Wang ◽  
...  

microRNAs (miRNAs) regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level and play important roles in tumor initiation and progression. Recently, we examined the global miRNA expression profile of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and demonstrated that miR-92a was highly expressed in tumor tissues. In this study, we found that the up-regulation of miR-92a was significantly correlated with the status of lymph node metastasis and TNM stage in 107 ESCC patients. Moreover, the up-regulation of miR-92a was associated with poor survival of ESCC patients and might be used as an independent prognostic factor. Next, we investigated the role and mechanism of miR-92a in ESCC cells, and found that miR-92a modulated the migration and invasion but not apoptosis and proliferation of ESCC cells in vitro. We further demonstrated that miR-92a directly targeted the CDH1 3′-UTR and repressed the expression of CDH1, a tumor metastasis suppressor. In addition, restoring of miR-92a-resistant CDH1 expression in miR-92a-overexpression cells recovered the pro-metastasis activity of miR-92a. Taken together, we demonstrated that miR-92a promotes ESCC cell migration and invasion at least partially via suppression of CDH1 expression, and patients with up-regulated miR-92a are prone to lymph node metastasis and thus have poor prognosis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Yanhui Zhang ◽  
Aifang Wang ◽  
Xiaohe Zhang ◽  
Xiaoliang Wang ◽  
Jin Zhang ◽  
...  

Objective. Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is the most common malignant tumor of the head and neck, with strong local invasiveness and cervical lymph node metastasis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of LINC01296 in oral squamous cell carcinoma and its possible mechanism. Materials and Methods. GEPAI database analysis and clinical samples were used to detect the expression of LINC01296 in head and neck cancer. In vivo experiment, MTT, clone formation assay, and transwell were used to detect the proliferation, migration, and invasion of oral squamous cell carcinoma. The effect of LINC01296 on EMT was detected by western blot and qRT-PCR to measure the expression of epithelial and mesenchymal phenotypic markers. BALB/c nude mice were used to carry out in vitro treatment experiment. In terms of mechanism, the binding relationship between LINC01296 and SRSF1 was predicted and verified by the RBPDB database and RNA pull-down assay. Results. LINC01296 was highly expressed in clinical samples and cell lines of oral squamous cell carcinoma. Overexpression of LINC01296 promoted the proliferation, invasion, and migration of oral squamous cell carcinoma cells and accelerated the formation of xenografts, while silencing LINC01296 inhibited tumor progression. In mechanism, LINC01296 plays a tumor-promoting role by binding to SRSF1 protein. Conclusion. LINC01296 promotes malignant lesions in oral squamous cell carcinoma by binding to SRSF1 protein, which provides important experimental data and theoretical basis for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma.


BMC Cancer ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yanan Jiang ◽  
Jing Zhang ◽  
Jimin Zhao ◽  
Zhenzhen Li ◽  
Hanyong Chen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a fatal disease with poor prognosis. The predominant reason for ESCC-related death is distal metastasis. A comprehensive understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying metastasis is needed for improving patient prognosis. T-LAK cell-originated protein kinase (TOPK) is a MAPKK-like kinase, which plays a vital role in various physiological and pathophysiological processes. However, the role of TOPK in ESCC metastasis is unclear. Methods Tissue array was used to evaluate the correlation between TOPK expression and ESCC lymph node metastasis. Wound healing assay, transwell assay, and lung metastasis mice model were used to examine the role of TOPK in the migration of ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Protein kinase array, mass spectrometry (MS), and molecular modeling were used to examine the pathways and direct target proteins of TOPK that are involved in ESCC metastasis. Additionally, immunofluorescence and western blotting analyses were performed to verify these findings. Results The enhanced expression of TOPK was correlated with lymph node metastasis in the ESCC tissues. TOPK knockdown or treatment with the TOPK inhibitor (HI-TOPK-032) decreased the invasion and migration of ESCC cells in vitro. HI-TOPK-032 also inhibited the lung metastasis in ESCC cell xenograft in vivo model. Moreover, TOPK promoted the invasion of ESCC cells by activating the Src/GSK3β/STAT3 and ERK signaling pathways via γ-catenin. Conclusion The findings of this study reveal that TOPK is involved in ESCC metastasis and promoted the ESCC cell mobility by activating the Src/GSK3β/STAT3 and ERK signaling pathways. This indicated that TOPK may be a potential molecular therapeutic target for ESCC metastasis.


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