m6A Demethylase FTO Promotes Tumor Progression via Regulation of Lipid Metabolism in Esophageal Cancer

Abstract BackgroundEpitranscriptomics studies have contributed greatly to the development of research on human cancers. In recent years, N6-methyladenosine (m6A), an RNA modification on the N-6 position of adenosine, has been found to play a potential role in epigenetic regulation. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the regulation of cancer progression properties by m6A. ResultsWe found that m6A demethylase fat mass and obesity-associated protein (FTO) was highly expressed in esophageal cancer (EC) stem-like cells, and that its level was also substantially increased in EC tissues, which was closely correlated with a poor prognosis in EC patients. FTO knockdown significantly inhibited the proliferation, invasion, stemness, and tumorigenicity of EC cells, whereas FTO overexpression promoted these characteristics. Furthermore, integrated transcriptome and meRIP-seq analyses revealed that HSD17B11 may be a target gene regulated by FTO. Moreover, FTO promoted the formation of lipid droplets in EC cells by enhancing HSD17B11 expression. Furthermore, depleting YTHDF1 increased the protein level of HSD17B11. ConclusionsThese data indicate that FTO may rely on the reading protein YTHDF1 to affect the translation pathway of the HSD17B11 gene to regulate the formation of lipid droplets in EC cells, thereby promoting the development of EC. The understanding of the role of epitranscriptomics in the development of EC will lay a theoretical foundation for seeking new anticancer therapies.

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Acid ceramidase, a double-edged sword in cancer aggression: A minireview

Current Cancer Drug Targets ◽

10.2174/1568009620666201223154621 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 ◽

Author(s):

Helen Shiphrah Vethakanraj ◽

Niveditha Chandrasekaran ◽

Ashok Kumar Sekar

Keyword(s):

Cell Fate ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Potential Role ◽

Tumour Progression ◽

Acid Ceramidase ◽

The Core ◽

The Past ◽

Sphingosine 1 Phosphate ◽

Key Enzyme

: Acid ceramidase (AC), the key enzyme of the ceramide metabolic pathway hydrolyzes pro-apoptotic ceramide to sphingosine, which by the action of sphingosine-1-kinase is metabolized to mitogenic sphingosine-1-phosphate. The intracellular level of AC determines ceramide/sphingosine-1-phosphate rheostat which in turn decides the cell fate. The upregulated AC expression during cancerous condition acts as a “double-edged sword” by converting pro-apoptotic ceramide to anti-apoptotic sphingosine-1-phosphate, wherein on one end, the level of ceramide is decreased and on the other end, the level of sphingosine-1-phosphate is increased, thus altogether aggravating the cancer progression. In addition, cancer cells with upregulated AC expression exhibited increased cell proliferation, metastasis, chemoresistance, radioresistance and numerous strategies were developed in the past to effectively target the enzyme. Gene silencing and pharmacological inhibition of AC sensitized the resistant cells to chemo/radiotherapy thereby promoting cell death. The core objective of this review is to explore AC mediated tumour progression and the potential role of AC inhibitors in various cancer cell lines/models.

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The role of m6A modification in the biological functions and diseases

Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy ◽

10.1038/s41392-020-00450-x ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Xiulin Jiang ◽

Baiyang Liu ◽

Zhi Nie ◽

Lincan Duan ◽

Qiuxia Xiong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cancer Progression ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Target Genes ◽

Rna Modification ◽

Biological Functions ◽

Rna Methylation ◽

Downstream Target ◽

Different Types ◽

M6a Rna Methylation

AbstractN6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most prevalent, abundant and conserved internal cotranscriptional modification in eukaryotic RNAs, especially within higher eukaryotic cells. m6A modification is modified by the m6A methyltransferases, or writers, such as METTL3/14/16, RBM15/15B, ZC3H3, VIRMA, CBLL1, WTAP, and KIAA1429, and, removed by the demethylases, or erasers, including FTO and ALKBH5. It is recognized by m6A-binding proteins YTHDF1/2/3, YTHDC1/2 IGF2BP1/2/3 and HNRNPA2B1, also known as “readers”. Recent studies have shown that m6A RNA modification plays essential role in both physiological and pathological conditions, especially in the initiation and progression of different types of human cancers. In this review, we discuss how m6A RNA methylation influences both the physiological and pathological progressions of hematopoietic, central nervous and reproductive systems. We will mainly focus on recent progress in identifying the biological functions and the underlying molecular mechanisms of m6A RNA methylation, its regulators and downstream target genes, during cancer progression in above systems. We propose that m6A RNA methylation process offer potential targets for cancer therapy in the future.

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FAM196B promotes proliferation and migration via regulating epithelial-mesenchymal transition in esophageal cancer

Cancer Biomarkers ◽

10.3233/cbm-203023 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Haifeng Xia ◽

Fang Hu ◽

Liangbin Pan ◽

Chengcheng Xu ◽

Haitao Huang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Esophageal Cancer ◽

Western Blot ◽

Cox Regression ◽

Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Cox Regression Analysis ◽

Ec Cells ◽

And Migration ◽

Proliferation And Migration

BACKGROUND: EC (esophageal cancer) is a common cancer among people in the world. The molecular mechanism of FAM196B (family with sequence similarity 196 member B) in EC is still unclear. This article aimed to clarify the role of FAM196B in EC. METHODS: The expression of FAM196B in EC tissues was detected using qRT-PCR. The prognosis of FAM196B in EC patients was determined by log-rank kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox regression analysis. Furthermore, shRNA was used to knockdown the expression of FAM196B in EC cell lines. MTT, wound healing assays and western blot were used to determine the role of FAM196B in EC cells. RESULTS: In our research, we found that the expression of FAM196B was up-regulated in EC tissues. The increased expression of FAM196B was significantly correlated with differentiation, lymph node metastasis, stage, and poor survival. The proliferation and migration of EC cells were inhibited after FAM196B-shRNA transfection in vitro and vivo. The western blot result showed that FAM196B could regulate EMT. CONCLUSION: These results suggested that FAM196B severs as an oncogene and promotes cell proliferation and migration in EC. In addition, FAM196B may be a potential therapeutic target for EC patients.

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Evaluation of serum ATX and LPA as potential diagnostic biomarkers in patients with pancreatic cancer

BMC Gastroenterology ◽

10.1186/s12876-021-01635-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Jiang Chen ◽

Hongyu Li ◽

Wenda Xu ◽

Xiaozhong Guo

Keyword(s):

Pancreatic Cancer ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Prognostic Value ◽

Potential Role ◽

Early Stage ◽

Serum Levels ◽

Diagnostic Efficacy ◽

Diagnostic Biomarkers ◽

The Poor

Abstract Background Pancreatic cancer (PC) is a devastating disease that has a poor prognosis and a total 5-year survival rate of around 5%. The poor prognosis of PC is due in part to a lack of suitable biomarkers that can allow early diagnosis. The lysophospholipase autotaxin (ATX) and its product lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) play an essential role in disease progression in PC patients and are associated with increased morbidity in several types of cancer. In this study, we evaluated both the potential role of serum LPA and ATX as diagnostic markers in PC and their prognostic value for PC either alone or in combination with CA19-9. Methods ATX, LPA and CA19-9 levels were evaluated using ELISA of serum obtained from PC patients (n = 114) healthy volunteers (HVs: n = 120) and patients with benign pancreatic diseases (BPDs: n = 94). Results Serum levels of ATX, LPA and CA19-9 in PC patients were substantially higher than that for BPD patients or HVs (p < 0.001). The sensitivity of LPA in early phase PC was 91.74% and the specificity of ATX was 80%. The levels of ATX, LPA and CA19-9 were all substantially higher for early stage PC patients compared to levels in serum from BPD patients and HVs. The diagnostic efficacy of CA19-9 for PC was significantly enhanced by the addition of ATX and LPA (p = 0.0012). Conclusion Measurement of LPA and ATX levels together with CA19-9 levels can be used for early detection of PC and diagnosis of PC in general.

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The potential role of RNA N6-methyladenosine in Cancer progression

Molecular Cancer ◽

10.1186/s12943-020-01204-7 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Tianyi Wang ◽

Shan Kong ◽

Mei Tao ◽

Shaoqing Ju

Keyword(s):

Cancer Progression ◽

Potential Role

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The Potential Role of Nitric Oxide in Halting Cancer Progression Through Chemoprevention

Journal of Cancer Prevention ◽

10.15430/jcp.2016.21.1.1 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 21 (1) ◽

pp. 1-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 63

Author(s):

Huzefa Vahora ◽

Munawwar Ali Khan ◽

Usama Alalami ◽

Arif Hussain

Keyword(s):

Nitric Oxide ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Potential Role

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The Role of SATB1 in Tumour Progression and Metastasis

International Journal of Molecular Sciences ◽

10.3390/ijms20174156 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (17) ◽

pp. 4156 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Glatzel-Plucińska ◽

Piotrowska ◽

Dzięgiel ◽

Podhorska-Okołów

Keyword(s):

Cancer Progression ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Tumour Progression ◽

Prognostic Significance ◽

Distant Metastases ◽

Mesenchymal Transition ◽

Epithelial Cancers ◽

Multistep Process ◽

Satb1 Expression

Carcinogenesis is a long-drawn, multistep process, in which metastatic spread is an unequivocal hallmark of a poor prognosis. The progression and dissemination of epithelial cancers is commonly thought to rely on the epidermal-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. During EMT, epithelial cells lose their junctions and apical-basal polarity, and they acquire a mesenchymal phenotype with its migratory and invasive capabilities. One of the proteins involved in cancer progression and EMT may be SATB1 (Special AT-Rich Binding Protein 1)—a chromatin organiser and a global transcriptional regulator. SATB1 organizes chromatin into spatial loops, providing a “docking site” necessary for the binding of further transcription factors and chromatin modifying enzymes. SATB1 has the ability to regulate whole sets of genes, even those located on distant chromosomes. SATB1 was found to be overexpressed in numerous malignancies, including lymphomas, breast, colorectal, prostate, liver, bladder and ovarian cancers. In the solid tumours, an elevated SATB1 level was observed to be associated with an aggressive phenotype, presence of lymph node, distant metastases, and a poor prognosis. In this review, we briefly describe the prognostic significance of SATB1 expression in most common human cancers, and analyse its impact on EMT and metastasis.

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High TRAF6 Expression Is Associated With Esophageal Carcinoma Recurrence and Prompts Cancer Cell Invasion

Oncology Research Featuring Preclinical and Clinical Cancer Therapeutics ◽

10.3727/096504016x14749340314441 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 25 (4) ◽

pp. 485-493 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Xinyang Liu ◽

Zhichao Wang ◽

Guoliang Zhang ◽

Qikun Zhu ◽

Hui Zeng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Esophageal Cancer ◽

Cancer Progression ◽

Poor Prognosis ◽

Molecular Mechanisms ◽

Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Loss Of Function ◽

Underlying Mechanisms ◽

Patient Prognosis ◽

Cancer Tissues

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common types of cancer, and it has a poor prognosis. The molecular mechanisms of esophageal cancer progression remain largely unknown. In this study, we aimed to investigate the clinical significance and biological function of tumor necrosis factor receptor-associated factor 6 (TRAF6) in esophageal cancer. Expression of TRAF6 in esophageal cancer was examined, and its correlation with clinicopathological factors and patient prognosis was analyzed. A series of functional and mechanism assays were performed to further investigate the function and underlying mechanisms in esophageal cancer. Expression of TRAF6 was highly elevated in esophageal cancer tissues, and patients with high TRAF6 expression have a significantly shorter survival time than those with low TRAF6 expression. Furthermore, loss-of-function experiments showed that knockdown of TRAF6 significantly reduced the migration and invasion abilities of esophageal cancer cells. Moreover, the pro-oncogenic effects of TRAF6 in esophageal cancer were mediated by the upregulation of AEP and MMP2. Altogether, our data suggest that high expression of TRAF6 is significant for esophageal cancer progression, and TRAF6 indicates poor prognosis in esophageal cancer patients, which might be a novel prognostic biomarker or potential therapeutic target in esophageal cancer.

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