In vitro and in silico assessment of the effect of WWOX expression on invasiveness pathways associated with AP-2 transcription factors in bladder cancer

Background WW Domain Containing Oxidoreductase (WWOX) belongs to the unusual tumor suppressors, whose molecular function is not fully understood in bladder cancer, especially regarding interaction with Activator Protein 2 (AP-2) α/γ transcription factors. Thus, using lentiviral systems we created an in vitro model overexpressing or downregulating WWOX in CAL-29 cell line to assess invasiveness pathways. Surprisingly, while WWOX overexpression was accompanied with increased expression of both AP-2 factors, its downregulation only affected AP-2α level but not AP-2γ which remained high. Methods Using cellular models and unpaired t-test or Wilcoxon test, we investigated significant changes in biological processes: clonogenicity, extracellular matrix adhesion, metalloproteinases activity, 3D culture growth, proliferation, mitochondrial redox potential and invasiveness. Relative gene expression acquired through Real-Time qPCR has been analyzed by Welch's t-test. Additionally, using oncoprint analysis we distinguished groups for bioinformatics analyzes in order to perform a follow-up of in vitro experiments. Results Downregulation of WWOX in bladder cancer cell line intensified ability of single cell to grow into colony, mitochondrial redox potential and proliferation rate. Moreover, these cells shown elevated pro-MMP-2/9 activity but reduced adhesion to collagen I or laminin I, as well as distinct 3D culture growth. Through global in silico profiling we determined that WWOX alters disease-free survival of bladder cancer patients and modulates vital processes through AP-2 downstream effectors. Conclusions Our research indicates that WWOX possesses tumor suppressor properties in bladder cancer but consecutive examination is required to entirely understand the contribution of AP-2γ or AP-2α.