APOC2 accelerates colorectal cancer progression via modulating lipid metabolism and transcriptional activity of PHF8

AbstractThe apolipoproteins (APOs) are the major proteins in blood lipid transportation. Emerging evidence has demonstrated that APOs might exert important function in tumor cells, but the underlying mechanism remains inclusive. In this study, we aim to explore the relationship between APOC2 dysfunction and colorectal cancer (CRC) malignancy. By analyzing the expression of APOC2 in 507 patients with CRC, we demonstrated that the APOC2 was overexpressed and associated with poor prognosis in CRC. We then found that high levels of APOC2 resulted in proliferation, invasion and metastasis of CRC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, we revealed that APOC2 directly interacted with FASN which resulted in decreased levels of omega-3 fatty acids and increased levels of alpha-ketoglutarate (α-KG). Both RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analysis revealed that APOC2 overexpression resulted accumulation of α-KG leads to activation on the transcriptional program of PHF8 and thereby contributed to activation on genes involved in cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis. Together, our study unveiled the oncogenic role of APOC2 in tumor cells, which sheds new light on the potential of APOC2 as a biomarker in the prognosis of CRC.

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CCT8 recovers WTp53-suppressed cell cycle evolution and EMT to promote colorectal cancer progression

Oncogenesis ◽

10.1038/s41389-021-00374-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (12) ◽

Author(s):

Qing Liao ◽

Yun Ren ◽

Yuyi Yang ◽

Xiaohui Zhu ◽

Yunfei Zhi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Cell Cycle ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Clinical Intervention ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression ◽

Chaperone Complex

AbstractLIM and SH3 protein 1 (LASP1) is a metastasis-related protein reported to enhance tumor progression in colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the underlying mechanism is still elusive. The chaperonin protein containing TCP1 (CCT) is a cellular molecular chaperone complex, which is necessary for the correct folding of many proteins. It contains eight subunits, CCT1-8. CCT8 is overexpressed in many cancers, however, studies on CCT8 are limited and its role on CRC development and progression remains elusive. In this study, we confirmed that CCT8 and LASP1 can interact with each other and express positively in CRC cells. CCT8 could recover the ability of LASP1 to promote the invasion of CRC; CCT8 could significantly promote the proliferation, invasion, and metastasis of colorectal cells in vivo and in vitro. Mechanically, CCT8 inhibited the entry of WTp53 into the nucleus, and there was a negative correlation between the expression of CCT8 and the nuclear expression of WTp53 in clinical colorectal tissues. CCT8 promoted the cell cycle evolution and EMT progression of CRC by inhibiting the entry of WTp53 into the nucleus. Clinically, CCT8 was highly expressed in CRC. More importantly, the overall survival of CRC patients with high expression of CCT8 was worse than that of patients with low expression of CCT8. These findings indicate that as LASP1-modulated proteins, CCT8 plays a key role in promoting the progression of colorectal cancer, which provides a potential target for clinical intervention in patients with colorectal cancer.

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Diethyldithiocarbamate-copper complex (CuET) inhibits colorectal cancer progression via miR-16-5p and 15b-5p/ALDH1A3/PKM2 axis-mediated aerobic glycolysis pathway

Oncogenesis ◽

10.1038/s41389-020-00295-7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xin Huang ◽

Yichao Hou ◽

Xiaoling Weng ◽

Wenjing Pang ◽

Lidan Hou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Copper Complex ◽

Aerobic Glycolysis ◽

Active Role ◽

Downstream Effector ◽

Glycolysis Pathway ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression

AbstractExploring novel anticancer drugs to optimize the efficacy may provide a benefit for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). Disulfiram (DSF), as an antialcoholism drug, is metabolized into diethyldithiocarbamate-copper complex (CuET) in vivo, which has been reported to exert the anticancer effects on various tumors in preclinical studies. However, little is known about whether CuET plays an anti-cancer role in CRC. In this study, we found that CuET had a marked effect on suppressing CRC progression both in vitro and in vivo by reducing glucose metabolism. Mechanistically, using RNA-seq analysis, we identified ALDH1A3 as a target gene of CuET, which promoted cell viability and the capacity of clonal formation and inhibited apoptosis in CRC cells. MicroRNA (miR)-16-5p and 15b-5p were shown to synergistically regulate ALDH1A3, which was negatively correlated with both of them and inversely correlated with the survival of CRC patients. Notably, using co-immunoprecipitation followed with mass spectrometry assays, we identified PKM2 as a direct downstream effector of ALDH1A3 that stabilized PKM2 by reducing ubiquitination. Taken together, we disclose that CuET treatment plays an active role in inhibiting CRC progression via miR-16-5p and 15b-5p/ALDH1A3/PKM2 axis–mediated aerobic glycolysis pathway.

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Upregulation of OSBPL3 by HIF1A promotes colorectal cancer progression through activation of RAS signaling pathway

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-020-02793-3 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (7) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hong-li Jiao ◽

Bin-shu Weng ◽

Shan-shan Yan ◽

Zi-mo Lin ◽

Shu-yang Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Signaling Pathway ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Ras Signaling ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

In Vivo Models ◽

Ras Signaling Pathway ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression

AbstractOxysterol-binding protein like protein 3 (OSBPL3) has been shown involving in the development of several human cancers. However, the relationship between OSBPL3 and colorectal cancer (CRC), particularly the role of OSBPL3 in the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of CRC remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of OSBPL3 in CRC and found that its expression was significantly higher in CRC tissues than that in normal tissues. In addition, high expression of OSBPL3 was closely related to poor differentiation, advanced TNM stage and poor prognosis of CRC. Further experiments showed that over-expression of OSBPL3 promoted the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of CRC in vitro and in vivo models. Moreover, we revealed that OSBPL3 promoted CRC progression through activation of RAS signaling pathway. Furthermore, we demonstrated that hypoxia induced factor 1 (HIF-1A) can regulate the expression of OSBPL3 via binding to the hypoxia response element (HRE) in the promoter of OSBPL3. In summary, Upregulation of OSBPL3 by HIF1A promotes colorectal cancer progression through activation of RAS signaling pathway. This novel mechanism provides a comprehensive understanding of both OSBPL3 and the RAS signaling pathway in the progression of CRC and indicates that the HIF1A–OSBPL3–RAS axis is a potential target for early therapeutic intervention in CRC progression.

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LncRNA DQ786243 contributes to proliferation and metastasis of colorectal cancer both in vitro and in vivo

Bioscience Reports ◽

10.1042/bsr20160048 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Longci Sun ◽

Hanbing Xue ◽

Chunhui Jiang ◽

Hong Zhou ◽

Lei Gu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Cell Cycle Progression ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Cycle Progression ◽

Proliferation And Metastasis ◽

Non Coding Rnas ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression

This article aims to find the key long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) associated with colorectal cancer (CRC) and to study its biological functions in colorectal cancer progression. Our study has shown that upregulated LncRNA DQ786243 can regulate cell proliferation, cell cycle progression, cell apoptosis, migration, and invasion in CRC cells. Xenograft experiments confirmed that the growth of xenograft tumors formed by CRC cells was suppressed after silencing LncRNA DQ786243 expression. In conclusion, our study suggests that LncRNA DQ786243 is an oncogene that promotes tumor progression and leads us to propose that LncRNAs may serve as key regulatory hubs in CRC progression.

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The Long Noncoding RNA HOTAIR Promotes Colorectal Cancer Progression by Sponging miR-197

Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical Cancer Therapeutics ◽

10.3727/096504017x15105708598531 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 473-481 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Xinyang Lu ◽

Zhiqiang Liu ◽

Xiaofei Ning ◽

Lunhua Huang ◽

Biao Jiang

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Long Noncoding Rna ◽

Noncoding Rna ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Downstream Target ◽

Potential Applications ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression

The long noncoding RNA HOX transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR) has been found to be overexpressed in many human malignancies and involved in tumor progression and metastasis. Although the downstream target through which HOTAIR modulates tumor metastasis is not well known, evidence suggests that microRNA-197 (miR-197) might be involved in this event. In the present study, the significance of HOTAIR and miR-197 in the progression of colorectal cancer was detected in vitro and in vivo. We found that HOTAIR expression was significantly increased in colorectal cancer cells and tissues. In contrast, the expression of miR-197 was obviously decreased. We further demonstrated that HOTAIR knockdown promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, HOTAIR modulated the progression of colorectal cancer by competitively binding miR-197. Taken together, our study has identified a novel pathway through which HOTAIR exerts its oncogenic role and provided a molecular basis for potential applications of HOTAIR in the prognosis and treatment of colorectal cancer.

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Circular RNA 100146 Promotes Colorectal Cancer Progression by miR-149/HMGA2 Axis

Molecular and Cellular Biology ◽

10.1128/mcb.00445-20 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Kunpeng Liu ◽

Yuhua Mou ◽

Xiufang Shi ◽

Tingkun Liu ◽

Zhanfeng Chen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Xenograft Model ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Circular Rnas ◽

Western Blot Assay

Aim: Colorectal cancer (CRC) has developed into the third leading reason of cancer-associated death worldwide. Studies has confirmed that circular RNAs (circRNAs) sponge microRNAs (miRNAs) to regulate the function of downstream genes. This study aimed to expound the underlying mechanism of circRNA 100146 in CRC. Methods: The expression of circRNA 100146, miR-149 and high mobility group A2 (HMGA2) was detected by quantitative real time PCR (RT-qPCR). A series of bio-functional effects (cell viability, apoptosis, migration/invasion) were evaluated by methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT), flow cytometry, transwell. Protein level was measured by Western blot assay. The xenograft model was established for in vivo experiments. The interactions among circRNA 100146, miR-149 and HMGA2 were evaluated by dual-luciferase reporter assay, RNA immunoprecipitation assays, or RNA pulldown assay. Results: CircRNA 100146 was upregulated in CRC tissues and cells. CircRNA 100146 knockdown inhibited cell proliferation, promoted apoptosis and suppressed migration and invasion in vitro, and impeded tumor growth in vivo. Also, miR-149 was negalitively regulated by circRNA 100146, and targeted to HMGA2 and mediated its expression. Moreover, miR-149 interference abrogated the activities of silenced circRNA 100146 in proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion. Furthermore, HMGA2 overexpression abated the effects above caused by circRNA 100146 silencing, while the mutant on miR-149 binding sites in HMGA2 3’UTR lead to it losing this ability. Conclusion: CircRNA 100146 knockdown repressed proliferation, enhanced apoptosis and hindered migration and invasion in SW620 and SW480 cells through targeting miR-149/HMGA2 axis.

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Hypoxic colorectal cancer-secreted exosomes deliver miR-210-3p to normoxic tumor cells to elicit a protumoral effect

Experimental Biology and Medicine ◽

10.1177/15353702211011576 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 153537022110115

Author(s):

Liuqing Ge ◽

Feng Zhou ◽

Jiayan Nie ◽

Xiaobing Wang ◽

Qiu Zhao

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Tumor Microenvironment ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Tumor Cells ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Preclinical Study ◽

Mechanistic Investigation ◽

Colorectal Cancer Cells ◽

Colorectal Cancer Progression

Hypoxia, the most common feature in the tumor microenvironment, is closely related to tumor malignant progression and poor patient’s prognosis. Exosomes, initially recognized as cellular “garbage dumpsters”, are now known to be important mediums for mediating cellular communication in tumor microenvironment. However, the mechanisms of hypoxic tumor cell-derived exosomes facilitate colorectal cancer progression still need further exploration. In the present study, we found that exosomes from hypoxic colorectal cancer cells (H-Exos) promoted G1-S cycle transition and proliferation while preventing the apoptosis of colorectal cancer cells by transmitting miR-210-3p to normoxic tumor cells. Mechanistic investigation indicated that miR-210-3p from H-Exos elicited its protumoral effect via suppressing CELF2 expression. A preclinical study further confirmed that H-Exos could promote tumorigenesis in vivo. Clinically, the expression of miR-210-3p in circulating plasma exosomes was markedly upregulated in colorectal cancer patients, which were closely associated with multiple unfavorable clinicopathological features. Taken together, these results suggest that hypoxia may stimulate colorectal cancer cells to secrete miR-210-3p-enriched exosomes in tumor microenvironment, which elicit protumoral effects by inhibiting CELF2 expression. These findings provide new insights on the mechanism of colorectal cancer progression and potential therapeutic targets for colorectal cancer.

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VDR Signaling via the Enzyme NAT2 Inhibits Colorectal Cancer Progression

Frontiers in Pharmacology ◽

10.3389/fphar.2021.727704 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

Author(s):

Chaojun Zhu ◽

Zihuan Wang ◽

Jianqun Cai ◽

Chunqiu Pan ◽

Simin Lin ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Vitamin D ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Active Form ◽

Underlying Mechanism ◽

Protective Effects ◽

Lower Survival Rate ◽

Migration Capacity

Recent epidemiological and preclinical evidence indicates that vitamin D3 inhibits colorectal cancer (CRC) progression, but the mechanism has not been completely elucidated. This study was designed to determine the protective effects of vitamin D3 and identify crucial targets and regulatory mechanisms in CRC. First, we confirmed that 1,25(OH)2D3, the active form of vitamin D3, suppressed the aggressive phenotype of CRC in vitro and in vivo. Based on a network pharmacological analysis, N-acetyltransferase 2 (NAT2) was identified as a potential target of vitamin D3 against CRC. Clinical data of CRC patients from our hospital and bioinformatics analysis by online databases indicated that NAT2 was downregulated in CRC specimens and that the lower expression of NAT2 was correlated with a higher metastasis risk and lower survival rate of CRC patients. Furthermore, we found that NAT2 suppressed the proliferation and migration capacity of CRC cells, and the JAK1/STAT3 signaling pathway might be the underlying mechanism. Moreover, Western blot and immunofluorescence staining assays demonstrated that 1,25(OH)2D3 promoted NAT2 expression, and the chromatin immunoprecipitation assay indicated that the vitamin D receptor (VDR) transcriptionally regulated NAT2. These findings expand the potential uses of vitamin D3 against CRC and introduce VDR signaling via the enzyme NAT2 as a potential diagnostic and therapeutic target for CRC.

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RNF141 interacts with KRAS to promote colorectal cancer progression

Oncogene ◽

10.1038/s41388-021-01877-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Jiuna Zhang ◽

Xiaoyu Jiang ◽

Jie Yin ◽

Shiying Dou ◽

Xiaoli Xie ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Colorectal Cancer ◽

Plasma Membrane ◽

Tumor Growth ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Critical Role ◽

Ring Finger ◽

Immunohistochemical Analysis ◽

Bimolecular Fluorescence Complementation

AbstractRING finger proteins (RNFs) play a critical role in cancer initiation and progression. RNF141 is a member of RNFs family; however, its clinical significance, roles, and mechanism in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain poorly understood. Here, we examined the expression of RNF141 in 64 pairs of CRC and adjacent normal tissues by real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemical analysis. We found that there was more expression of RNF141 in CRC tissue compared with its adjacent normal tissue and high RNF141 expression associated with T stage. In vivo and in vitro functional experiments were conducted and revealed the oncogenic role of RNF141 in CRC. RNF141 knockdown suppressed proliferation, arrested the cell cycle in the G1 phase, inhibited migration, invasion and HUVEC tube formation but promoted apoptosis, whereas RNF141 overexpression exerted the opposite effects in CRC cells. The subcutaneous xenograft models showed that RNF141 knockdown reduced tumor growth, but its overexpression promoted tumor growth. Mechanistically, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry indicated RNF141 interacted with KRAS, which was confirmed by Co-immunoprecipitation, Immunofluorescence assay. Further analysis with bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) and Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) pull-down assays showed that RNF141 could directly bind to KRAS. Importantly, the upregulation of RNF141 increased GTP-bound KRAS, but its knockdown resulted in a reduction accordingly. Next, we demonstrated that RNF141 induced KRAS activation via increasing its enrichment on the plasma membrane not altering total KRAS expression, which was facilitated by the interaction with LYPLA1. Moreover, KRAS silencing partially abolished the effect of RNF141 on cell proliferation and apoptosis. In addition, our findings presented that RNF141 functioned as an oncogene by upregulating KRAS activity in a manner of promoting KRAS enrichment on the plasma membrane in CRC.

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Hypoxia promotes the metastasis of pancreatic cancer through regulating NOX4/KDM5A-mediated histone methylation modification changes in a HIF1A-independent manner

Clinical Epigenetics ◽

10.1186/s13148-021-01016-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Hongzhen Li ◽

Chunyan Peng ◽

Chenhui Zhu ◽

Shuang Nie ◽

Xuetian Qian ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Pancreatic Cancer ◽

Nadph Oxidase ◽

Western Blot ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Histone Methylation ◽

Invasion And Metastasis ◽

Independent Manner ◽

Nadph Oxidase 4

Abstract Background Hypoxia is a characteristic of the tumor microenvironments within pancreatic cancer (PC), which has been linked to its malignancy. Recently, hypoxia has been reported to regulate the activity of important carcinogenic pathways by changing the status of histone modification. NOX4, a member of NADPH oxidase (NOX), has been found to be activated by hypoxia and promote cancer progression in several cancers. But whether it is involved in the epigenetic changes of tumor cells induced by hypoxia is still unclear, and its biological roles in PC also need to be explored. Methods A hypoxic-related gene signature and its associated pathways in PC were identified by analyzing the pancreatic cancer gene expression data from GEO and TCGA database. Candidate downstream gene (NOX4), responding to hypoxia, was validated by RT-PCR and western blot. Then, we evaluated the relationship between NOX4 expression and clinicopathologic parameters in 56 PC patients from our center. In vitro and in vivo assays were preformed to explore the phenotype of NOX4 in PC. Immunofluorescence, western blot and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays were further applied to search for a detailed mechanism. Results We quantified hypoxia and developed a hypoxia signature, which was associated with worse prognosis and elevated malignant potential in PC. Furthermore, we found that NADPH oxidase 4 (NOX4), which was induced by hypoxia and upregulated in PC in a HIF1A-independent manner, caused inactivation of lysine demethylase 5A (KDM5A), increased the methylation modification of histone H3 and regulated the transcription of EMT-associated gene_ snail family transcriptional repressor 1 (SNAIL1). This served to promote the invasion and metastasis of PC. NOX4 deficiency repressed hypoxia-induced EMT, reduced expression of H3K4ME3 and impaired the invasion and metastasis of PC cells; however, knockdown of KDM5A reversed the poor expression of H3KEME3 induced by NOX4 deficiency, thereby promoting EMT. Conclusions This study highlights the prognostic role of hypoxia-related genes in PC and strong correlation with EMT pathway. Our results also creatively discovered that NOX4 was an essential mediator for hypoxia-induced histone methylation modification and EMT in PC cells.

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