scholarly journals E-Cadherin, NFATC3, and PLP2 Are Differentially Methylated in Multiple Cancers

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
pp. 251686572096480
Author(s):  
Mary J Lotesto ◽  
Christopher J Wallace ◽  
Stacey L Raimondi

It is well documented that cancer cells have abnormal methylation patterns often caused by faulty methylating machinery. Specifically, E-cadherin, NFATC3, and PLP2 are 3 genes known to be aberrantly methylated in cancer cells. These genes are well documented for their role in signaling pathways involved with cell proliferation, adhesion, migration, and other signs of tumor progression. Therefore, changes in gene expression of CDH1, NFATC3, and PLP2 due to aberrant methylation can lead to profound changes in cellular function and tumor formation. In order to ensure that previous in vitro and in vivo methylation studies match what is observed in the clinic, we utilized a bioinformatics approach to complete an extensive analysis of methylation patterns of these 3 genes, analyzing over 5000 patient samples, across all cancers for which both normal and tumor tissues were available. Specifically, we analyzed overall and site-specific methylation patterns, at CpG islands and shores, of all 3 genes across 14 cancer types. Furthermore, we compared these methylation levels in normal and tumor samples of both matched and unmatched patient samples in order to determine any differences between groups. Finally, we examined whether an aberrant DNA methyltransferase, DNMT3B7, known to be expressed in cancer cells and to alter methylation patterns in vitro correlated with altered overall and site-specific methylation of CDH1, NFATC3, and PLP2 in these patient samples. Our results indicate that methylation patterns of CDH1 and NFATC3 were unexpectedly varied across tumors, contrary to previous studies performed in vitro, while PLP2 showed the expected hypomethylation pattern in tumor tissues. We also observed some correlation between DNMT3B7 expression and methylation patterns of these genes, but patterns were inconsistent. Taken together, these results emphasize the necessity for in vivo and patient studies rather than a complete reliance on in vitro data and provide multiple areas of future research.

2017 ◽  
Vol 313 (5) ◽  
pp. C556-C566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phattrakorn Powan ◽  
Sudjit Luanpitpong ◽  
Xiaoqing He ◽  
Yon Rojanasakul ◽  
Pithi Chanvorachote

The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition is proposed to be a key mechanism responsible for metastasis-related deaths. Similarly, cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been proposed to be a key driver of tumor metastasis. However, the link between the two events and their control mechanisms is unclear. We used a three-dimensional (3D) tumor spheroid assay and other CSC-indicating assays to investigate the role of E-cadherin in CSC regulation and its association to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in lung cancer cells. Ectopic overexpression and knockdown of E-cadherin were found to promote and retard, respectively, the formation of tumor spheroids in vitro but had opposite effects on tumor formation and metastasis in vivo in a xenograft mouse model. We explored the discrepancy between the in vitro and in vivo results and demonstrated, for the first time, that E-cadherin is required as a component of a major survival pathway under detachment conditions. Downregulation of E-cadherin increased the stemness of lung cancer cells but had an adverse effect on their survival, particularly on non-CSCs. Such downregulation also promoted anoikis resistance and invasiveness of lung cancer cells. These results suggest that anoikis assay could be used as an alternative method for in vitro assessment of CSCs that involves dysregulated adhesion proteins. Our data also suggest that agents that restore E-cadherin expression may be used as therapeutic agents for metastatic cancers.


Circulation ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 130 (suppl_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Graciotti ◽  
Toru Hosoda ◽  
Fumihiro Sanada ◽  
Giulia Borghetti ◽  
Christian Arranto ◽  
...  

The low incidence of cardiac tumors has been attributed to tissue pressure dictated by myocardial mechanics and large coronary blood flow. These variables, however, have failed to consider the possibility that the rare occurrence of heart neoplasms may be dictated by the molecular characteristics of cardiomyocytes. We have shown that miR-1, miR-133a, and miR-499 translocate from myocytes to co-cultured MCF7 breast cancer cells, inhibiting their growth. The transfer of miRs is mediated by gap junction channels and is abolished by Cx43 and Cx45 silencing. Although these in vitro results provided important information on the inhibitory function of miRs in cell proliferation, co-culture of myocytes and cancer cells does not mimic the in vivo organization of the myocardium that allows the formation of multiple sites of coupling between myocytes and tumor cells. To reproduce, at least in part, the in vivo condition, we developed first a physiological model of organ culture. Thick vibratome-cut myocardial slices were placed on a multiwell plate containing an oxygen-saturated sponge. At 24-48 hours, the cultured tissue was viable and myocytes showed a well organized sarcomere structure. Two hours after plating of the organ slices, control MCF7 cells or MCF7 cells in which Cx43 and Cx45 were silenced (MCF7-shCx43-shCx45) were seeded on the myocardium. Control MCF7 cells showed a slower growth rate than MCF7-shCx43-shCx45 cells, a finding consistent with miR translocation and its blockade, respectively. Second, 1 x 106 MCF7 or MCF7 cells overexpressing miR-1, miR-133a, and miR-499 (MCF7-miRs) were injected subcutaneously in NOD-SCID mice; ~45 days later, the tumors developed from MCF7 cells were more than 10-fold larger and 3-fold heavier than those originated from MCF7-miRs cells. Third, these studies were complemented with the intramyocardial injection of 1 x 105 control MCF7 cells. Five weeks later, no neoplastic lesions were identified. However, when an excessive number of MCF7 cells were injected, 1 x 106, tumor formation was apparent. In conclusion, our results indicate that transfer of miR-1, miR-133a, and miR-499 from cardiomyocytes to cancer cells plays a critical role in preventing the generation of tumors in the myocardium.


2014 ◽  
Vol 306 (12) ◽  
pp. E1431-E1441 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hejun Zhao ◽  
Rui Wei ◽  
Liang Wang ◽  
Qing Tian ◽  
Ming Tao ◽  
...  

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) promotes pancreatic β-cell regeneration through GLP-1 receptor (GLP-1R) activation. However, whether it promotes exocrine pancreas growth and thereby increases the risk of pancreatic cancer has been a topic of debate in recent years. Clinical data and animal studies published so far have been controversial. In the present study, we report that GLP-1R activation with liraglutide inhibited growth and promoted apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cell lines in vitro and attenuated pancreatic tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model in vivo. These effects of liraglutide were mediated through activation of cAMP production and consequent inhibition of Akt and ERK1/2 signaling pathways in a GLP-1R-dependent manner. Moreover, we examined GLP-1R expression in human pancreatic cancer tissues and found that 43.3% of tumor tissues were GLP-1R-null. In the GLP-1R-positive tumor tissues (56.7%), the level of GLP-1R was lower compared with that in tumor-adjacent normal pancreatic tissues. Furthermore, the GLP-1R-positive tumors were significantly smaller than the GLP-1R-null tumors. Our study shows for the first time that GLP-1R activation has a cytoreductive effect on human pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo, which may help address safety concerns of GLP-1-based therapies in the context of human pancreatic cancer.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ombretta Repetto ◽  
Paolo De Paoli ◽  
Valli De Re ◽  
Vincenzo Canzonieri ◽  
Renato Cannizzaro

Soluble E-cadherin is a 80 kDa protein fragment coming from the proteolytic cleavage of the extracellular domain of the full length epithelial cadherin, a molecule involved in cell adhesion/polarity and tissue morphogenesis. In comparison with normal epithelia, cancer cells show a decreased cadherin-mediated intercellular adhesion, and sE-cad levels normally increase in body fluids (blood and urine). This review focuses on soluble E-cadherin in sera of patients affected by three solid cancers (breast, gastric, and colorectal cancers) and how its levels correlate or not with some cancer parameters (e.g., dimension, progression, and localisation). We will describe the main proteomics approaches adopted to measure sE-cad bothin vivoandin vitroand the most important findings about its behaviour in cancer dynamics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yongshun Li ◽  
Changrong Huang ◽  
Qizhou Bai ◽  
Jun Yu

AbstractEsophageal cancer is a common digestive tract cancer, which is a serious threat to human health. Ribophorin II (RPN2) is a part of an N-oligosaccharyltransferase complex, which is excessively expressed in many kinds of cancers. In the present study, we explore the biological role of RNP2 in esophageal cancer. First, we found that the expression of RPN2 was higher in esophageal cancer tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and negatively correlated with E-cadherin expression. RPN2 expression levels in esophageal cancer tissues were positively associated with differentiation and tumor node metastasis (TNM) stage. Furthermore, the expression of RPN2 was increased significantly in esophageal cancer cell lines compared with normal cells. The effect of RPN2 down-regulation on cell proliferation, cell migration, and cell invasion was examined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK8), wound healing assay, and Transwell assay, respectively. Silencing RPN2 effectively inhibited cell proliferation of esophageal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Cell migration and invasion were also weakened dramatically by siRPN2 treatment of esophageal cancer cells. In addition, protein expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP-2), and E-cadherin in esophageal cancer cells was determined by Western blot analysis. PCNA, MMP-2, E-cadherin, Snail and phosphorylation-Smad2/3 expression was also regulated notably by siRPN2 treatment. These findings indicate that RPN2 exhibits oncogenetic capabilities in esophageal cancer, which could provide novel insights into esophageal cancer prevention and treatment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchong Zhao ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Shuya Bai ◽  
Wang Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Due to the lack of effective interference options, early metastasis remains a major cause of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) recurrence and mortality. However, the molecular mechanism of early metastasis is largely unknown. We characterize the function of eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) in Pancreatic cancer cell epithelial mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and metastasis, to investigate whether it is effective to inhibit EMT and metastasis by joint interference of eIFs and downstream c-MYC. Methods: We used the data of The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genome Tissue Expression (GTEx) to analyze the expression level of eIF4A1 in PDAC tissues, and further validated in a microarray containing 53 PDAC samples. Expression regulation and pharmacological inhibition of eIF4A1/c-MYC was performed to determine their role in migration, invasion, and metastasis in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.Results: Elevated expression of eIF4A1 was positively correlated with lymph node infiltration, tumor size, and indicated a poor prognosis. eIF4A1 decreased E-cadherin expression through c-MYC/miR-9 axis. Ablation of eIF4A1 and c-MYC decreased the EMT and metastasis capabilities of pancreatic cancer cells. Upregulation of eIF4A1 could attenuate the inhibition of EMT and metastasis induced by c-MYC downregulation. Single-use of eIF4A1 inhibitor Rocaglamide (RocA) or c-MYC inhibitor Mycro3 and joint intervention all significantly the EMT level of pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. However, the efficiency and safety of RocA single-use were not inferior to joint use in vivo. Conclusion: The results demonstrated that overexpression of eIF4A1 downregulated E-cadherin through c-MYC/miR-9 axis, which promoted EMT and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. Despite the potential loop between eIF4A1 and c-MYC existing, RocA single strategy was a promising therapy for the inhibition of eIF4A1 induced PDAC metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuchong Zhao ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
Wei Chen ◽  
Shuya Bai ◽  
Wang Peng ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Owing to the lack of effective treatment options, early metastasis remains the major cause of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) recurrence and mortality. However, the molecular mechanism of early metastasis is largely unknown. We characterized the function of eukaryotic translation initiation factors (eIFs) in epithelial-mesenchymal-transition (EMT) and metastasis in pancreatic cancer cells to investigate whether eIFs and downstream c-MYC affect EMT and metastasis by joint interference. Methods We used The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Genome Tissue Expression (GTEx) databases to analyze eIF4A1 expression in PDAC tissues and further validated the findings with a microarray containing 53 PDAC samples. Expression regulation and pharmacological inhibition of eIF4A1 and c-MYC were performed to determine their role in migration, invasion, and metastasis in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Results Elevated eIF4A1 expression was positively correlated with lymph node infiltration, tumor size, and indicated a poor prognosis. eIF4A1 decreased E-cadherin expression through the c-MYC/miR-9 axis. Loss of eIF4A1 and c-MYC decreased the EMT and metastasis capabilities of pancreatic cancer cells, whereas upregulation of eIF4A1 attenuated the inhibition of EMT and metastasis induced by c-MYC downregulation. Treatment with the eIF4A1 inhibitor rocaglamide (RocA) or the c-MYC inhibitor Mycro3 either alone or in combination significantly decreased the expression level of EMT markers in pancreatic cancer cells in vitro. However, the efficiency and safety of RocA alone were not inferior to those of the combination treatment in vivo. Conclusion Overexpression of eIF4A1 downregulated E-cadherin expression through the c-MYC/miR-9 axis, which promoted EMT and metastasis of pancreatic cancer cells. Despite the potential feedback loop between eIF4A1 and c-MYC, RocA monotherapy is a promising treatment inhibiting eIF4A1-induced PDAC metastasis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Li-bo Chen ◽  
Shun-ping Zhu ◽  
Tian-pei Liu ◽  
Heng Zhao ◽  
Ping-feng Chen ◽  
...  

Cancer associated fibroblasts (CAFs) play crucial roles in cancer development, however, the specific mechanisms of CAFs associated renal cancer progression remain poorly understood. Our study observed enriched CAFs in high degree malignant tumor tissues from renal cancer patients. These CAFs isolated from tumor tissues are prone to facilitate drugs resistance and promote tumor progression in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, CAFs up-regulated tryptophan 2, 3-dioxygenase (TDO) expression, resulting in enhanced secretion of kynurenine (Kyn). Kyn produced from CAFs could up-regulated the expression of aromatic hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), eventually resulting in the AKT and STAT3 signaling pathways activation. Inhibition of AKT signal prevented cancer cells proliferation, while inhibition of the STAT3 signal reverted drugs resistance and cancer migration induced by kynurenine. Application of AhR inhibitor DMF could efficiently suppress distant metastasis of renal cancer cells, and improve anticancer effects of sorafenib (Sor)/sunitinib (Sun), which described a promising therapeutic strategy for clinical renal cancer.


2014 ◽  
Vol 115 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Graciotti ◽  
Toru Hosoda ◽  
Marcello Rota ◽  
Giulia Borghetti ◽  
Sergio Signore ◽  
...  

The adult heart is resistant to cancer formation and the metastatic invasion of distant neoplasms. This biological advantage may be dictated by the molecular properties of myocytes that constitutes 90% of the myocardium. We raised the possibility that microRNAs (miRs) highly expressed in myocytes (myomirs) may translocate via gap junctions to neighboring cancer cells, preventing their growth or inhibiting their survival. First, we established whether overexpression of myomirs interferes with the proliferation and death of MCF7 human breast cancer cells. Infection of MCF7 with lentiviruses carrying miR-1, miR-133a and miR-499 (miR-MCF7) resulted in a 5-fold decrease in Ki67 labeling and a 20% increase in the fraction of cells arrested at G0/G1. In contrast, TdT-positive apoptotic cells averaged 0.5% and did not differ in miR-MCF7 and control cells. To mimic the in vivo condition, EGFP-labeled MCF7 were co-cultured with myocytes and, 4 days later, the expression of myomirs was measured in FACS-sorted MCF7. With respect to baseline, co-cultured MCF7 showed 100-fold, 16-fold, and 27-fold increase in the expression of miR-1, miR-133a and miR-499, respectively. Co-culture of myocytes and MCF7 led to the formation of gap junctions made of connexin 43 (Cx43) and connexin 45 (Cx45). Silencing of Cx43 and Cx45 decreased significantly the expression of myomirs in co-cultured MCF7. Importantly, proximity of MCF7 to myocytes reduced markedly the growth rate of the cancer cells. Subsequently, 1 x 106 MCF7 or miR-MCF7 were injected subcutaneously in NOD-scid mice. At 5 weeks, the tumors developed from miR-MCF7 were 70% smaller than those originated from control MCF7. Two doses of breast cancer cells were injected intramyocardially to establish their in situ tumorigenic effects. Tumor formation was found in all hearts that received 1 x 106 MCF7. Conversely, mice injected with 1 x 105 cells did not show macroscopic evidence of neoplastic lesions. The lack of tumor development in the latter case is consistent with the ability of the heart to prevent neoplasm development when cancer cell colonization is not massive. Our findings document that miR-1, miR-133a and miR-499 translocate from myocytes to cancer cells via gap junctions, inhibiting tumor growth in vitro and in vivo.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (20) ◽  
pp. 5054
Author(s):  
Hydari Masuma Begum ◽  
Chelsea Mariano ◽  
Hao Zhou ◽  
Keyue Shen

Epithelial cancer cells often have unusually higher mitochondrial membrane potential (ΔΨm) than their normal counterparts, which has been associated with increased invasiveness in vitro and higher metastatic potential in vivo. However, the mechanisms by which ΔΨm in cancer cells is regulated in tumor microenvironment (TME) remain unclear. In this study, we used an in vitro micropatterning platform to recapitulate biophysical confinement cues in the TME and investigated the mechanisms by which these regulate cancer cell ΔΨm. We found that micropatterning resulted in a spatial distribution of ΔΨm, which correlated with the level of E-cadherin mediated intercellular adhesion. There was a stark contrast in the spatial distribution of ΔΨm in the micropattern of E-cadherin-negative breast cancer cells (MDA-MB-231) compared to that of the high E-cadherin expressing (MCF-7) cancer cells. Disruption and knockout of E-cadherin adhesions rescued the low ΔΨm found at the center of MCF-7 micropatterns with high E-cadherin expression, while E-cadherin overexpression in MDA-MB-231 and MCF-7 cells lowered their ΔΨm at the micropattern center. These results show that E-cadherin plays an important role in regulating the ΔΨm of cancer cells in the context of biophysical cues in TME.


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