scholarly journals β-Arrestin1 Promotes Colorectal Cancer Metastasis Through GSK-3β/β-Catenin Signaling- Mediated Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition

Author(s):  
Qing Song ◽  
Zhifen Han ◽  
Xinnan Wu ◽  
Yan Wang ◽  
Lihong Zhou ◽  
...  

Recurrence and metastasis seriously affects the prognosis of patients with tumors, and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a key role in promoting tumor invasion and metastasis. Previous studies have showed that β-arrestin1 acted as a tumor-promoting factor in multiple types of tumor. However, the exact role and mechanism of β-arrestin1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) progression remains to be elucidated. Our research aimed to explore the potential mechanism underlying the role of β-arrestin1 in CRC metastasis. The expression of β-arrestin1 was investigated in both primary and metastatic CRC tissues using the GSE41258 database, and it was revealed that CRC patients with liver/lung metastasis had a higher expression level of β-arrestin1, and the expression level of β-arrestin1 was inversely correlated with the prognosis of CRC patients. Further in vitro mechanism studies indicated that β-arrestin1 had the ability to promote the migration of CRC cells through regulating the EMT process by activating Wingless/integration-1 (Wnt)/β-catenin signaling pathways. Blocking Wnt/β-catenin signaling with inhibitor ICG001 decreased the promoting effect of β-arrestin1 on EMT in CRC. In vivo imaging experiments further demonstrated the promoting effect of β-arrestin1 on the lung metastasis of CRC cells by tail vein injection in mice. The results of this paper suggest that β-arrestin1 promotes EMT via Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in CRC metastasis, and provides a novel therapeutic target for CRC metastasis.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qing Song ◽  
Liu Yang ◽  
Zhifen Han ◽  
Xinnan Wu ◽  
Ruixiao Li ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Tanshinone IIA (Tan IIA) is a major active ingredient extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza, which has been proved to inhibit metastasis of various cancers including colorectal cancer (CRC). However, the detailed mechanisms of Tan IIA against CRC metastasis are not well explored. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) exerts an important regulatory role in CRC metastasis, and our previous mechanism studies demonstrated that β-arrestin1 could regulate CRC EMT partly through β-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, in this work we investigated whether Tan IIA could regulate CRC EMT through β-arrestin1-mediated β-catenin signaling pathway in vivo and in vitro.Methods: The nude mice tail vein metastasis model was established to observe the effect of Tan IIA on CRC lung metastasis in vivo. The lung metastasis was evaluated by living animal imaging and hemaoxylin-eosin staining. The migratory ability of CRC cells in vitro were measured by transwell and wound healing assays. The protein expression and cellular localization of β-arrestin1 and β-catenin were characterized by immunofluorescence staining and western blot. The β-catenin signaling pathway related proteins and EMT associated proteins in CRC cells were detected by western blot and immunohistochemistry. Results: Our results showed that Tan IIA inhibited the lung metastases of CRC cells in vivo and extended the survival time of nude mice. In vitro, Tan IIA increased the expression of E-cadherin, decreased the secretion of Snail, N-cadherin and Vimentin, thus suppressed EMT and the migratory ability of CRC cells. Further study found the mechanism involving in Tan IIA regulating EMT and metastasis, referring to the suppression of β-arrestin1 expression, reduction of β-catenin nuclear localization, thereby the decreased activity of β-catenin signaling. Conclusion: Our data revealed a new mechanism of Tan IIA on the suppression of EMT and metastasis in CRC via β-arrestin1-mediated β-catenin signaling pathway, and provided support for Tan IIA as anti-metastatic agents in CRC.


2020 ◽  
Vol 401 (4) ◽  
pp. 487-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chunfeng Ren ◽  
Zhenmin Zhang ◽  
Shunhua Wang ◽  
Weitao Zhu ◽  
Peiguo Zheng ◽  
...  

AbstractMetastasis is the main cause of increasing cancer morbidity and mortality. However, the underlying mechanism of cancer metastasis remains largely unknown. In the present study, we identified one circular RNA (circRNA) closely related to the metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC), namely hsa_circ_0001178. CRC patients with high hsa_circ_0001178 were more prone to have metastatic clinical features, advanced TNM stage and adverse prognosis. Stable knockdown of hsa_circ_0001178 significantly weakened CRC cell migratory and invasive capabilities in vitro as well as lung and liver metastases in vivo. Mechanistic study revealed that hsa_circ_0001178 acted as a competing endogenous RNA (ceRNA) for miR-382/587/616 to upregulate ZEB1 (a key trigger of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition), thereby promoting CRC metastatic dissemination. Of note, ZEB1 could also increase hsa_circ_0001178 expression via physically binding to hsa_circ_0001178 promoter region. Collectively, our data uncover the crucial role of hsa_circ_0001178 in CRC metastasis, and targeted therapy based on this positive feedback ceRNA axis may be a promising treatment for metastatic CRC patients.


Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 265 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shang-Gin Wu ◽  
Tzu-Hua Chang ◽  
Yi-Nan Liu ◽  
Jin-Yuan Shih

Tumor metastasis is a hallmark of cancer, with distant metastasis frequently developing in lung cancer, even at initial diagnosis, resulting in poor prognosis and high mortality. However, available biomarkers cannot reliably predict cancer spreading sites. The metastatic cascade involves highly complicated processes including invasion, migration, angiogenesis, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition that are tightly controlled by various genetic expression modalities along with interaction between cancer cells and the extracellular matrix. In particular, microRNAs (miRNAs), a group of small non-coding RNAs, can influence the transcriptional and post-transcriptional processes, with dysregulation of miRNA expression contributing to the regulation of cancer metastasis. Nevertheless, although miRNA-targeted therapy is widely studied in vitro and in vivo, this strategy currently affords limited feasibility and a few miRNA-targeted therapies for lung cancer have entered into clinical trials to date. Advances in understanding the molecular mechanism of metastasis will thus provide additional potential targets for lung cancer treatment. This review discusses the current research related to the role of miRNAs in lung cancer invasion and metastasis, with a particular focus on the different metastatic lesions and potential miRNA-targeted treatments for lung cancer with the expectation that further exploration of miRNA-targeted therapy may establish a new spectrum of lung cancer treatments.


2019 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 578-589
Author(s):  
Liang Wu ◽  
Zili Zhou ◽  
Shengbo Han ◽  
Jinhuang Chen ◽  
Zhengyi Liu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background We previously demonstrated that the pleomorphic adenoma gene like-2 (PLAGL2) is involved in the pathogenesis of Hirschsprung disease. Enhanced PLAGL2 expression was observed in several malignant tumours. However, the exact function of PLAGL2 and its underlying mechanism in colorectal cancer (CRC) remain largely unknown. Methods Immunohistochemical analysis of PLAGL2 was performed. A series of in vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to reveal the role of PLAGL2 in the progression of CRC. Results Enhanced PLAGL2 expression was significantly associated with EMT-related proteins in CRC. The data revealed that PLAGL2 promotes CRC cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, PLAGL2 promoted the expression of ZEB1. PLAGL2 enhanced the expression and nuclear translocation of β-catenin by decreasing its phosphorylation. The depletion of β-catenin neutralised the regulation of ZEB1 that was caused by enhanced PLAGL2 expression. The small-molecule inhibitor PNU-74654, also impaired the enhancement of ZEB1 that resulted from the modified PLAGL2 expression. The depletion of ZEB1 could block the biological function of PLAGL2 in CRC cells. Conclusions Collectively, our findings suggest that PLAGL2 mediates EMT to promote colorectal cancer metastasis via β-catenin-dependent regulation of ZEB1.


2020 ◽  
pp. jcs.246900
Author(s):  
Pallavi Chinnu Varghese ◽  
Sruthy Manuraj Rajam ◽  
Debparna Nandy ◽  
Aurelie Jory ◽  
Ananda Mukherjee ◽  
...  

Our recent findings demonstrated that histone chaperone and DNA repair factor Aprataxin PNK like factor (APLF) could regulate Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) during reprogramming of murine fibroblast and in breast cancer metastasis. So, we investigated the function of APLF in EMT associated with mouse development. Here we show that APLF is predominantly enhanced in trophectoderm and lineages derived from trophectoderm in pre and post-implantation embryos. Downregulation of APLF induced hatching of embryos in vitro with a significant increase in Cdh1 and Cdx2 expression. Aplf shRNA microinjected embryos failed to implant in vivo. Rescue experiments neutralized the knockdown effects of APLF both in vitro and in vivo. Reduced expression of Snai2, Tead4 and the gain in Cdh1 and sFlt1 level marked the differentiation of APLF-knocked down Trophoblast Stem Cells that might contribute towards the impaired implantation of embryos. Hence, our findings suggest a novel role of APLF during implantation and post-implantation development of mouse embryos. We anticipate that APLF might contribute to the establishment of maternal-fetal connection, as its fine balance is required to achieve implantation and thereby attain proper pregnancy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Li ◽  
Tao Wang ◽  
Shanbao Li ◽  
Zhengqian Chen ◽  
Junyi Wu ◽  
...  

Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO2), an enzyme involved in tryptophan (Trp) metabolism has been linked with some malignant traits of various cancers. Kyn, the main product of Trp metabolism pathway catalyzed by TDO2 and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) in tumor cells, was also demonstrated to activate aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which may regulate cancer growth and invasion in some malignancies. However, whether TDO2 participates in the metastasis and invasion of HCC has not been explored before. The underlying mechanism played by TDO2 in this process still requires further investigation. Here, we demonstrated that overexpression of TDO2 correlates with advanced stage or malignant traits in HCC patients. Knockdown or inhibition of TDO2 suppressed the migration and invasion of HCC cells in vitro and in vivo. Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is an essential program happened in the initial phase of cancer metastasis. We found that in HCC cells, TDO2 promoted the EMT process evidenced by altered levels of biomarkers for EMT. Mechanically, TDO2 regulated the Kyn production in HCC cell via activated aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Together, these results indicate that TDO2 promotes the EMT of hepatocellular carcinoma through activating Kyn-AhR pathway, thereby participating in the metastasis and invasion of HCC.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xisheng Liu ◽  
Xiaole Meng ◽  
Xiao Peng ◽  
Qianlan Yao ◽  
Fangming Zhu ◽  
...  

AbstractIncreasing evidence suggests that global downregulation of miRNA expression is a hallmark of human cancer, potentially due to defects in the miRNA processing machinery. In this study, we found that the protein expression of Argonaute 2 (AGO2), a key regulator of miRNA processing, was downregulated in colorectal cancer (CRC) tissues, which was also consistent with the findings of the Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC). Furthermore, the correlation between the levels of AGO2 and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers (E-cadherin and vimentin) indicated that reduced levels of AGO2 promoted EMT in CRC. Low expression of AGO2 was an indicator of a poor prognosis among CRC patients. Knockdown of AGO2 in CRC cells promoted migration, invasion and metastasis formation in vitro and in vivo but had no influence on proliferation. To provide detailed insight into the regulatory roles of AGO2, we performed integrated transcriptomic, quantitative proteomic and microRNA sequencing (miRNA-seq) analyses of AGO2 knockdown cells and the corresponding wild-type cells and identified neuropilin 1 (NRP1) as a new substrate of AGO2 via miR-185-3p. Our data provided evidence that knockdown of AGO2 resulted in a reduction of miR-185-3p expression, leading to the upregulation of the expression of NRP1, which is a direct target of miR-185-3p, and elevated CRC cell metastatic capacity. Inhibition of NRP1 or treatment with a miR-185-3p mimic successfully rescued the phenotypes of impaired AGO2, which suggested that therapeutically targeting the AGO2/miR-185-3p/NRP1 axis may be a potential treatment approach for CRC.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenqian Yu ◽  
Wei Huang ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Rongfang Qiu ◽  
Yi Zeng ◽  
...  

Abstract GATA3 has emerged as a prominent transcription factor required for maintaining mammary-gland homeostasis. GATA3 loss is associated with aggressive breast cancer development, but the mechanism by which breast cancer is affected by the loss of GATA3 function remains unclear. Here, we report that GATA3 expression is positively correlated with the expression of UTX, a histone H3K27 demethylase contained in the MLL4 methyltransferase complex, and that GATA3 recruits the chromatin-remodeling MLL4 complex and interacts directly with UTX, ASH2L, and RBBP5. Using RNA sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation and sequencing, we demonstrate that the GATA3/UTX complex synergistically regulates a cohort of genes including Dicer and UTX, which are critically involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Our results further show that the GATA3-UTX-Dicer axis inhibits EMT, invasion, and metastasis of breast cancer cells in vitro and the dissemination of breast cancer in vivo. Our study implicates the GATA3-UTX-Dicer axis in breast cancer metastasis and provides new mechanistic insights into the pathophysiological function of GATA3.


2020 ◽  
Vol 134 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-434 ◽  
Author(s):  
He Liu ◽  
Yanlong Liu ◽  
Ping Sun ◽  
Kaiming Leng ◽  
Yi Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Cancer-derived exosomal miRNAs play an important role in the development of metastasis, but the effects and underlying mechanisms remain unclear. In the present study, we investigated the miRNA expression profiles of 5 paired serum exosomal samples from metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) and non-mCRC patients via RNA sequencing. After we evaluated the differentially expressed miRNAs in 80 CRC patients, miR-106b-3p was selected as a metastasis-associated miRNA of CRC. We showed that the expression level of serum exosomal miR-106b-3p was significantly higher in CRC patients with metastasis than those without metastasis. Additionally, high serum exosomal miR-106b-3p expression in patients was correlated with a poor prognosis. Coculture of low-metastatic CRC cells with high-metastatic CRC cell-derived exosomes promoted cell migration, invasion, and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which was caused by the transport and transduction of miR-106b-3p in vitro. Moreover, exosomal miR-106b-3p promoted lung metastasis of CRC cells in vivo. In addition, we demonstrated that miR-106b-3p regulated metastasis by targeting deleted in liver cancer-1 (DLC-1). A negative correlation was also identified between miR-106b-3p and DLC-1 expression in human CRC tumour tissues and in mouse lung metastatic lesions. Collectively, our study indicated that metastasis-associated miR-106b-3p from serum exosomes could be used as a potential prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for CRC patients.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yu-Hui Zhang ◽  
Wei-Bin Huang ◽  
Yu-Jie Yuan ◽  
Jin Li ◽  
Jing Wu ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Long non-coding RNA H19 was demonstrated to be significantly correlated with tumor metastasis. However, the specific functions of H19 in colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis and the underlying mechanism are still largely unclear. Methods Use public database to screen the potential lncRNA crucial for metastasis in colorectal cancer. The expression of H19 in clinical CRC specimens was detected by qRT-PCR. The effect of H19 on the metastasis of CRC cells was investigated by transwell, wound healing assays, CCK-8 assays and animal studies. The potential proteins binding to H19 was identified by LC-MS and verified by RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP). The expression of indicated RNA and proteins were measured by qRT-PCR or western blot. Results We found the expression of lncRNA H19 was significantly upregulated in primary tumor and metastatic tissues, correlated with poor prognosis in CRC. Ectopic H19 expression promoted the metastasis of colorectal cancer cells in vitro and in vivo , and induced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Mechanistically, H19 directly bound to hnRNPA2B1. Knockdown of hnRNPA2B1 attenuated the H19-induce migration and invasion in CRC cells. Furthermore, H19 stabilized and upregulated the expression of Raf-1 by facilitated the interaction between hnRNPA2B1 and Raf-1 mRNA, resulting in activation of Raf-ERK signaling. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate the role of H19/hnRNPA2B1/EMT axis in regulation CRC metastasis, suggested H19 could be a potential biomarker to predict prognosis as well as a therapeutic strategy for CRC.


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