scholarly journals ROR2 Promotes EMT and Necrosis by Hyperactivating ERK in Melanoma

Author(s):  
María Victoria Castro ◽  
Gastón Barbero ◽  
María Belen Villanueva ◽  
Jérémie Nsengimana ◽  
Julia Newton-Bishop ◽  
...  

Abstract PurposeReceptor tyrosine kinase-like orphan receptor 2 (ROR2) has been shown to play opposite roles in the progression of different tumor types. In melanoma, ROR2 was shown to associate with a more invasive phenotype and to contribute to experimental lung colonization. However, the underlying mechanisms regulated by ROR2 have not been elucidated. More importantly, it has not been established whether ROR2 is just a marker or a driver of melanoma aggressiveness. MethodsGain and loss-of-function experiments were applied to study the biological function of ROR2 in melanoma. Transwell assays and Western blots were used to evaluate cell migration and both expression and activation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) markers and signaling proteins. The role of ROR2 in vivo was assessed in xenotransplantation experiments.ResultsWe describe that ROR2 promotes EMT by inducing cadherin switch and the upregulation of the transcription factors ZEB1, Twist, Slug, Snail, and HIF1A, together with a mesenchymal phenotype and increased migration. ROR2 association with EMT is also observed in melanoma samples. ROR2 exerts these effects by hyperactivating the MAPK/ERK pathway far above the typical high constitutive activity observed in melanoma. ROR2 also promoted EMT, invasion, and necrosis in xenotransplanted mice. This important role of ROR2 translates into melanoma patient’s prognosis since patients with lymph node metastasis displaying elevated ROR2 levels have reduced overall survival and distant metastasis-free survival.Conclusions These results demonstrate that ROR2 contributes to melanoma progression by hyperactivating ERK and inducing EMT and necrosis. Thus, ROR2 can be an attractive therapeutic target for metastatic melanoma.

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 62 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julianna Maria Santos ◽  
Fazle Hussain

Background: Reduced levels of magnesium can cause several diseases and increase cancer risk. Motivated by magnesium chloride’s (MgCl2) non-toxicity, physiological importance, and beneficial clinical applications, we studied its action mechanism and possible mechanical, molecular, and physiological effects in prostate cancer with different metastatic potentials.Methods: We examined the effects of MgCl2, after 24 and 48 hours, on apoptosis, cell migration, expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers, and V-H+-ATPase, myosin II (NMII) and the transcription factor NF Kappa B (NFkB) expressions.Results: MgCl2 induces apoptosis, and significantly decreases migration speed in cancer cells with different metastatic potentials.  MgCl2 reduces the expression of V-H+-ATPase and myosin II that facilitates invasion and metastasis, suppresses the expression of vimentin and increases expression of E-cadherin, suggesting a role of MgCl2 in reversing the EMT. MgCl2 also significantly increases the chromatin condensation and decreases NFkB expression.Conclusions: These results suggest a promising preventive and therapeutic role of MgCl2 for prostate cancer. Further studies should explore extending MgCl2 therapy to in vivo studies and other cancer types.Keywords: Magnesium chloride, prostate cancer, migration speed, V-H+-ATPase, and EMT.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Jian Xu ◽  
Peng Chen ◽  
Jianxin Jiang

AbstractAn accumulation of evidence indicates that long noncoding RNAs are involved in the tumorigenesis and progression of pancreatic cancer (PC). In this study, we investigated the functions and molecular mechanism of action of LINC00941 in PC. Quantitative PCR was used to examine the expression of LINC00941 and miR-335-5p in PC tissues and cell lines, and to investigate the correlation between LINC00941 expression and clinicopathological features. Plasmid vectors or lentiviruses were used to manipulate the expression of LINC00941, miR-335-5p, and ROCK1 in PC cell lines. Gain or loss-of-function assays and mechanistic assays were employed to verify the roles of LINC00941, miR-335-5p, and ROCK1 in PC cell growth and metastasis, both in vivo and in vitro. LINC00941 and ROCK1 were found to be highly expressed in PC, while miR-335-5p exhibited low expression. High LINC00941 expression was strongly associated with larger tumor size, lymph node metastasis, and poor prognosis. Functional experiments revealed that LINC00941 silencing significantly suppressed PC cell growth, metastasis and epithelial–mesenchymal transition. LINC00941 functioned as a molecular sponge for miR-335-5p, and a competitive endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for ROCK1, promoting ROCK1 upregulation, and LIMK1/Cofilin-1 pathway activation. Our observations lead us to conclude that LINC00941 functions as an oncogene in PC progression, behaving as a ceRNA for miR-335-5p binding. LINC00941 may therefore have potential utility as a diagnostic and treatment target in this disease.


2010 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 244-253 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Reid MacPherson ◽  
Patricia Molina ◽  
Serhiy Souchelnytskyi ◽  
Christer Wernstedt ◽  
Jorge Martin-Pérez ◽  
...  

Snail1 is a major factor for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important event in tumor metastasis and in other pathologies. Snail1 is tightly regulated at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Control of Snail1 protein stability and nuclear export by GSK3β phosphorylation is important for Snail1 functionality. Stabilization mechanisms independent of GSK3β have also been reported, including interaction with LOXL2 or regulation of the COP9 signalosome by inflammatory signals. To get further insights into the role of Snail1 phosphorylation, we have performed an in-depth analysis of in vivo human Snail1 phosphorylation combined with mutational studies. We identify new phosphorylation sites at serines 11, 82, and 92 and confirmed previously suggested phosphorylations at serine 104 and 107. Serines 11 and 92 participate in the control of Snail1 stability and positively regulate Snail1 repressive function and its interaction with mSin3A corepressor. Furthermore, serines 11 and 92 are required for Snail1-mediated EMT and cell viability, respectively. PKA and CK2 have been characterized as the main kinases responsible for in vitro Snail1 phosphorylation at serine 11 and 92, respectively. These results highlight serines 11 and 92 as new players in Snail1 regulation and suggest the participation of CK2 and PKA in the modulation of Snail1 functionality.


2021 ◽  
Vol 17 (10) ◽  
pp. 1993-2002
Author(s):  
Haoran Yu ◽  
Chen Zhang ◽  
Wanpeng Li ◽  
Xicai Sun ◽  
Quan Liu ◽  
...  

To investigate the expression characteristics of long non-coding RNA SNHG14 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its effects on epithelial-mesenchymal transition and development of nano-coated si-SNHG14 as an anti-tumor agent. The SNHG14 expression in cancerous and adjacent non-cancerous tissues was monitored using reverse transcriptionpolymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Gain- and loss-of-function experiments tested the regulation of SNHG14, miR- 5590-3p, and ZEB1 on PD-L1. The binding association between the above three factors was verified using bioinformatics analysis. EMT-related E-cadherin, N-cadherin, and Vimentin were tested using Western blot. Animal experiments in nude mice verified the function of SNHG14 in the EMT of NPC in vivo. The nano-coated si-SNHG14 was developed as an anti-tumor agent and was verified NPC cell in vitro. SNHG14 was upregulated in NPC tissues. Knocking down SNHG14 markedly inhibited the EMT of NPC. Additionally, the expression of ZEB1 was positively related to that of the SNHG14, while it was inversely correlated with that of miR-5590-3p. Moreover, ZEB1 transcription upregulated PD-L1 and promoted the EMT, while SNHG14 could accelerate the EMT of NPC in vivo by regulating the PD-1 and PD-L1. SNHG14-miR-5590- 3p-ZEB1 positively regulated PD-L1 and facilitate the EMT of NPC. Nano-coated si-SNHG14 significantly downregulated PD-L1 expression and decreased EMT.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzhen Wang ◽  
Tianning Yang ◽  
Zhengxiang He

BackgroundThe involvement of microRNA-338-5p in modulating NPC pathogenesis is still largely unknown, and this study aimed to investigate this issue.MethodsThe expressions of cancer associated genes were determined by Real-Time qPCR and Western Blot, and cell apoptosis was determined by flow cytometer (FCM). CCK-8 assay and colony formation assay were respectively used to determine cell proliferation and colony formation abilities. Transwell assay was used to evaluate cell migration. The expression levels of Ki67 protein in mice tissues were measured by Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assay.ResultsThe present study found that microRNA-338-5p suppressed NPC progression by degrading its downstream target, Wnt family member 2B (WNT2B). Specifically, microRNA-338-5p tended to be low-expressed in NPC tissues and cell lines, compared to the non-tumor nasopharyngeal mucosa tissues and normal nasopharyngeal cell line (NP69). Upregulation of microRNA-338-5p inhibited proliferation, mobility, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in NPC cells in vitro, while silencing of microRNA-338-5p had opposite effects. Consistently, microRNA-338-5p suppressed tumorigenesis of NPC cells in vivo. In addition, microRNA-338-5p targeted WNT2B for degradation and inhibition, and the inhibiting effects of microRNA-338-5p overexpression on NPC development were reversed by upregulating WNT2B.ConclusionsTaken together, we concluded that microRNA-338-5p targeted WNT2B to hinder NPC development.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jiajia Jiang ◽  
Rong Li ◽  
Junyi Wang ◽  
Jie Hou ◽  
Hui Qian ◽  
...  

Circular RNA CDR1as has been demonstrated to participate in various cancer progressions as miRNA sponges. The exact underlying mechanisms of CDR1as on gastric cancer (GC) metastasis remain unknown. Here, we found that CDR1as knockdown facilitated GC cell migration and invasion while its overexpression inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of GC cells in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, epithelial-mesenchymal transition- (EMT-) associated proteins and MMP2 and MMP9 were downregulated by CDR1as. Bioinformatics analysis combined with dual-luciferase reporter gene assays, western blot, RT-qPCR analysis, and functional rescue experiments demonstrated that CDR1as served as a miR-876-5p sponge and upregulated the target gene GNG7 expression to suppress GC metastasis. In summary, our findings indicate that CDR1as suppresses GC metastasis through the CDR1as/miR-876-5p/GNG7 axis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongli Li ◽  
Qingjie Mu ◽  
Guoxin Zhang ◽  
Zhixin Shen ◽  
Yuanyuan Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractIncreasing lines of evidence indicate the role of long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) in gene regulation and tumor development. Hence, it is important to elucidate the mechanisms of LncRNAs underlying the proliferation, metastasis, and invasion of lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). We employed microarrays to screen LncRNAs in LUAD tissues with and without lymph node metastasis and revealed their effects on LUAD. Among them, Linc00426 was selected for further exploration in its expression, the biological significance, and the underlying molecular mechanisms. Linc00426 exhibits ectopic expression in LUAD tissues and cells. The ectopic expression has been clinically linked to tumor size, lymphatic metastasis, and tumor differentiation of patients with LUAD. The deregulation of Linc00426 contributes to a notable impairment in proliferation, invasion, metastasis, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, the deregulation of Linc00426 could reduce cytoskeleton rearrangement and matrix metalloproteinase expression. Meanwhile, decreasing the level of Linc00426 or increasing miR-455-5p could down-regulate the level of UBE2V1. Thus, Linc00426 may act as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) to abate miR-455-5p-dependent UBE2V1 reduction. We conclude that Linc00426 accelerates LUAD progression by acting as a molecular sponge to regulate miR-455-5p, and may be a potential novel tumor marker for LUAD.


Biomolecules ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 1676
Author(s):  
Monserrat Olea-Flores ◽  
Juan C. Juárez-Cruz ◽  
Miriam D. Zuñiga-Eulogio ◽  
Erika Acosta ◽  
Eduardo García-Rodríguez ◽  
...  

Leptin is a hormone secreted mainly by adipocytes; physiologically, it participates in the control of appetite and energy expenditure. However, it has also been linked to tumor progression in different epithelial cancers. In this review, we describe the effect of leptin on epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers in different study models, including in vitro, in vivo, and patient studies and in various types of cancer, including breast, prostate, lung, and ovarian cancer. The different studies report that leptin promotes the expression of mesenchymal markers and a decrease in epithelial markers, in addition to promoting EMT-related processes such as cell migration and invasion and poor prognosis in patients with cancer. Finally, we report that leptin has the greatest biological relevance in EMT and tumor progression in breast, lung, prostate, esophageal, and ovarian cancer. This relationship could be due to the key role played by the enriched tumor microenvironment in adipose tissue. Together, these findings demonstrate that leptin is a key biomolecule that drives EMT and metastasis in cancer.


Blood ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 124 (21) ◽  
pp. 1421-1421
Author(s):  
Min Soon Cho ◽  
Qianghua Hu ◽  
Rajesha Rupaimoole ◽  
Anil Sood ◽  
Vahid Afshar-Kharghan

Abstract We have shown that complement component 3 (C3) is expressed in malignant ovarian epithelial cells and enhances cell proliferation in vitro and tumor growth in vivo. C3 is secreted by cancer cells into the tumor microenvironment and promotes tumor growth through an autocrine loop. To understand the mechanism of upregulation of C3 expression in malignant epithelial cells, we studied the transcriptional regulation of C3, and found that TWIST1, a major regulator of EMT, binds to the C3 promoter and regulates C3 transcription. Knockdown of the TWIST1 gene reduced C3 mRNA, and TWIST1 overexpression increased C3 mRNA. TWIST1 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during normal development and in metastasis of malignant tumors. An important marker of EMT is a reduction in the surface expression of E-cadherin on cells facilitating migration and invasion of these cells. TWIST1 is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin; and because TWIST1 increases C3 expression, we investigated whether C3 is also a negative regulator of E-cadherin expression. We overexpressed C3 in ovarian cancer cells by stable transduction of lentivirus carrying C3 cDNA. Overexpression of C3 was associated with 32% reduction in the expression of E-cadherin resulting in enhanced migration ability of cells by 2.3 folds and invasiveness by 1.75 folds, as compared to control cells transduced with control lentivirus. To investigate whether TWIST1-induced reduction in E-cadherin is C3-mediated or not, we studied the effect of TWIST1 overexpression simultaneous with C3 knockdown in ovarian cancer cells. Overexpression of TWIST1 alone resulted in 70% reduction in E-cadherin mRNA and this was completely reversed after simultaneous C3 knockdown in these cells. To investigate the correlation between C3 and TWIST1 in vivo, we studied the co-expression of these two proteins in mouse embryos (physiologic EMT) and in malignant tumors (pathologic EMT). Given the role of EMT in embryogenesis we immunostained mouse embryos at different stages of development, using antibodies against TWIST1 or C3. Transverse section of 9.5-day post-coitum (9.5dpc) mouse embryos showed co-expression of TWIST1 and C3 in otocyst (ot) and hindbrain (hb) of neural crest. In the whole-mounted 11.5dpc mouse embryos, C3 and TWIST1 were co-expressed in limb buds. Given the role of EMT in malignancy, tumors induced in mice after intraperitoneal injection of murine ovarian cancer cells were resected and immunostained for C3 and TWIST1 proteins. TWIST1 and C3 co-localized at tumor edges, where EMT and tumor cells migration occur. Taken together, these data provide evidence that TWIST1 regulates C3 expression, and C3 promotes EMT through E-cadherin. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 558-566 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wu ◽  
Dingxin Di ◽  
Chen Zhao ◽  
Yingyi Liu ◽  
Hongxia Chen ◽  
...  

Glioma-associated oncogenes (GLIs) are zinc finger protein family members and downstream regulatory factors of the classic Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway. GLI proteins influence the growth and development of organisms and aid in tissue repair. However, aberrant expression of the GLI family member GLI1 promotes carcinogenesis by inducing epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), angiogenesis, and other signaling pathways. Overexpression of GLI1 is thought to be an indicator of poor prognosis as well as a potential therapeutic target for cancers. GLI inhibitors such as zerumbone, GANT61, resveratrol, and cyclopamine depress the Hh pathway in vitro and in vivo cancer research, and other non-canonical pathways may also activate expression of GLI1. Here, we summarize GLI function in carcinogenesis and cancer-targeted therapy.


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