SQSTM1/p62 Promotes Cell Growth and Triggers Autophagy in Papillary Thyroid Cancer by Regulating the AKT/AMPK/mTOR Signaling Pathway

BackgroundThyroid cancer is one of the most common endocrine malignancies worldwide, and papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common pathologic type of thyroid cancer. SQSTM1/p62 activity mediates different biological functions. This study aimed to investigate the effect of SQSTM1/p62, a multifunctional receptor, on biological function and autophagy characteristics in the human PTC cell line TPC-1.MethodsA total of 105 primary PTC samples and matched adjacent normal thyroid tissue samples were obtained to evaluate the expression of p62 in clinical patients. A similar p62 expression pattern was found in PTC cell lines and normal human thyroid follicular epithelial cells. To evaluate the effect of SQSTM1/p62 on TPC-1 cells, we constructed the p62 knockout cell line p62-KO-TPC-1. Cell proliferation, cell cycle, and cell apoptosis were analyzed by colony formation tests, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assays and flow cytometry in vitro. TPC-1 and p62-KO-TPC-1 human PTC cell lines in the logarithmic growth phase were subcutaneously implanted into BALB/c nude mice to verify their proliferation effect in vivo. Furthermore, western blotting and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to detect the expression of AKT/AMPK/mTOR signaling pathway-related proteins.ResultsOverall, p62 expression was higher in tumor tissues than in normal tissues in 73 of 105 PTC patients (69.5%). The expression level of p62 in the PTC cell line was higher than that in the normal thyroid cell line. Our data indicated that in vitro, p62 deficiency could decrease the number of colonies, inhibit cell growth and the cell cycle, and induce apoptosis. Tumor xenograft experiments in BALB/c nude mice corroborated these findings. Moreover, the molecular mechanism was explored by western blotting, and we found that the AMPK/AKT/mTOR pathway was involved.ConclusionsThe results indicate that p62 might mediate cell autophagy and apoptosis in TPC-1 cells via the AMPK/AKT/mTOR pathway and could be used as a potential therapeutic approach for PTC.

Download Full-text

Preclinical Rationale for the Use of the Combined Treatment with the AKT Inhibitor Perifosine and the Multikinase Inhibitor Sorafenib in Hodgkin Lymphoma

Blood ◽

10.1182/blood.v118.21.1653.1653 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 118 (21) ◽

pp. 1653-1653

Author(s):

Silvia Locatelli ◽

Arianna Giacomini ◽

Anna Guidetti ◽

Loredana Cleris ◽

Michele Magni ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Cell Growth ◽

Cell Line ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Drug Combination ◽

Akt Inhibitor ◽

Sorafenib Treatment ◽

Responsive Cell

Abstract Abstract 1653 Introduction: A significant proportion of Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) patients refractory to first-line chemotherapy or relapsing after autologous transplantation are not cured with currently available treatments and require new treatments. The PI3K/AKT and RAF/MEK/ERK pathways are constitutively activated in the majority of HL. These pathways can be targeted using the AKT inhibitor perifosine (Æterna Zentaris GmBH, Germany, EU), and the RAF/MEK/ERK inhibitor sorafenib (Nexavar®, Bayer, Germany, EU). We hypothesized that perifosine in combination with sorafenib might have a therapeutic activity in HL by overcoming the cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic effects of PI3K/Akt and RAF/MEK/ERK pathways. Since preclinical evidence supporting the anti-lymphoma effects of the perifosine/sorafenib combination are still lacking, the present study aimed at investigating in vitro and in vivo the activity and mechanism(s) of action of this two-drug combination. METHODS: Three HL cell lines (HD-MyZ, L-540 and HDLM-2) were used to investigate the effects of perifosine and sorafenib using in vitro assays analyzing cell growth, cell cycle distribution, gene expression profiling (GEP), and apoptosis. Western blotting (WB) experiments were performed to determine whether the two-drug combination affected MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways as well as apoptosis. Additionally, the antitumor efficacy and mechanism of action of perifosine/sorafenib combination were investigated in vivo in nonobese diabetic/severe combined immune-deficient (NOD/SCID) mice. RESULTS: While perifosine and sorafenib as single agents exerted a limited activity against HL cells, exposure of HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines, but not HDLM-2 cells, to perifosine/sorafenib combination resulted in synergistic cell growth inhibition (40% to 80%) and cell cycle arrest. Upon perifosine/sorafenib exposure, L-540 cell line showed significant levels of apoptosis (up to 70%, P ≤.0001) associated with severe mitochondrial dysfunction (cytochrome c, apoptosis-inducing factor release and marked conformational change of Bax accompanied by membrane translocation). Apoptosis induced by perifosine/sorafenib combination did not result in processing of caspase-8, -9, -3, or cleavage of PARP, and was not reversed by the pan-caspase inhibitor Z-VADfmk, supporting a caspase-independent mechanism of apoptosis. In responsive cell lines, WB analysis showed that anti-proliferative events were associated with dephosphorylation of MAPK and PI3K/Akt pathways. GEP analysis of HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines, but not HDLM-2 cells indicated that perifosine/sorafenib treatment induced upregulation of genes involved in amino acid metabolism and downregulation of genes regulating cell cycle, DNA replication and cell death. In addition, in responsive cell lines, perifosine/sorafenib combination strikingly induced the expression of tribbles homologues 3 (TRIB3) both in vitro and in vivo. Silencing of TRIB3 prevented cell growth reduction induced by perifosine/sorafenib treatment. In vivo, the combined perifosine/sorafenib treatment significantly increased the median survival of NOD/SCID mice xenografted with HD-MyZ cell line as compared to controls (81 vs 45 days, P ≤.0001) as well as mice receiving perifosine alone (49 days, P ≤.03) or sorafenib alone (54 days, P ≤.007). In mice bearing subcutaneous nodules generated by HD-MyZ and L-540 cell lines but not HDLM-2 cell line, perifosine/sorafenib treatment induced significantly increased levels of apoptosis (2- to 2.5-fold, P ≤.0001) and necrosis (2- to 8-fold, P ≤.0001), as compared to controls or treatment with single agents. CONCLUSIONS: Perifosine/sorafenib combination resulted in potent anti-HL activity both in vitro and in vivo. These results warrant clinical evaluation in HL patients. Disclosures: No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

Download Full-text

LncRNA LUCAT1 as a novel prognostic biomarker for patients with papillary thyroid cancer

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-019-50913-7 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

B. Luzón-Toro ◽

R. M. Fernández ◽

J. M. Martos-Martínez ◽

M. Rubio-Manzanares-Dorado ◽

G. Antiñolo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Thyroid Cancer ◽

Papillary Thyroid Cancer ◽

Ex Vivo ◽

Papillary Thyroid ◽

Extrinsic Pathway ◽

Reverse Transcription Pcr ◽

Enhanced Expression

Abstract In recent years, long non-coding RNAs have emerged as a novel class of regulators of cancer biological processes. While they are dysregulated in many cancer types, little is known about their expression and functional profiles. This study has been focused on the determination of the role of a specific lncRNA in papillary thyroid cancer. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR was performed to detect the expression levels of 84 lncRNAs in 61 papillary thyroid carcinoma tissues and their adjacent non-tumor tissues. The highest fold-change was obtained for lung cancer associated transcript 1 LUCAT1, and thus, this study determines the expression and biological implication of lncRNA LUCAT1 through different in vitro and ex vivo approaches in this tumor. LUCAT1 was specifically located at the cell nucleus in tumoral regions of patient tissues. Furthermore, LUCAT1 knockdown significantly reduced both cell proliferation and invasion ex vivo and induced cell-cycle arrest and apoptosis. These facts were corroborated by an enhanced expression of P21, P57, P53 and BAX, and a reduced expression of EZH2 and HDAC1. In addition, a significant decrease was observed on DNMT1 and NRF2 genes, helping to clarify the role of LUCAT1 on PTC. Our study reveals the involvement of LUCAT1 in PTC development, through acting in cell-cycle regulation, proliferation, epigenetic modifications through LUCAT1/ CDK1/ EZH2/ P57/ P21/ HDAC1/ DNMT1/ P53/ BAX axis and apoptosis, via extrinsic pathway activating caspases. These findings indicate that LUCAT1 is maybe a potential therapeutic target and molecular biomarker for PTC.

Download Full-text

Survival and Function of Fibroblasts Stored as Stock Cultures at a Non-freezing Temperature

Alternatives to Laboratory Animals ◽

10.1177/026119299302100215 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 21 (2) ◽

pp. 206-209

Author(s):

Anders H. G. Andrén ◽

Anders P. Wieslander

Keyword(s):

Cell Growth ◽

Cell Line ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Fibroblast Cell ◽

Freezing Temperature ◽

Mouse Fibroblast ◽

Toxic Response ◽

Normal Manner ◽

And Function

Cytotoxicity, measured as inhibition of cell growth of cultured cell lines, is a widely used method for testing the safety of biomaterials and chemicals. One major technical disadvantage with this method is the continuous routine maintenance of the cell lines. We decided to investigate the possibility of storing stock cultures of fibroblasts (L-929) in an ordinary refrigerator as a means of reducing the routine workload. Stock cultures of the mouse fibroblast cell line L-929 were prepared in plastic vials with Eagle's minimum essential medium. The vials were stored in a refrigerator at 4–10°C for periods of 7–31 days. The condition of the cells after storage was determined as cell viability, cell growth and the toxic response to acrylamide, measured as cell growth inhibition. We found that the L-929 cell line can be stored for 2–3, weeks with a viabilty > 90% and a cell growth of about 95%, compared to L-929 cells grown and subcultured in the normal manner. The results also show that the toxic response to acrylamide, using refrigerator stored L-929 cells, corresponds to that of control L-929 cells. We concluded that it is possible to store L-929 cells in a refrigerator for periods of up to 3 weeks and still use the cells for in vitro cytotoxic assays.

Download Full-text

METTL14 promotes tumorigenesis by regulating lncRNA OIP5-AS1/miR-98/ADAMTS8 signaling in papillary thyroid cancer

Cell Death and Disease ◽

10.1038/s41419-021-03891-6 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

Author(s):

Xiaoping Zhang ◽

Dan Li ◽

Chengyou Jia ◽

Haidong Cai ◽

Zhongwei Lv ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Proliferation ◽

Thyroid Cancer ◽

Papillary Thyroid Cancer ◽

Xenograft Model ◽

Luciferase Reporter ◽

Papillary Thyroid ◽

Qrt Pcr ◽

The Relationship

Abstract Background Papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) is the most common type of cancer of the endocrine system. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) are emerging as a novel class of gene expression regulators associated with tumorigenesis. Through preexisting databases available for differentially expressed lncRNAs in PTC, we uncovered that lncRNA OIP5-AS1 was significantly upregulated in PTC tissues. However, the function and the underlying mechanism of OIP5-AS1 in PTC are poorly understood. Methods Expression of lncRNA OIP5-AS1 and miR-98 in PTC tissue and cells were measured by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR). And expression of METTL14 and ADAMTS8 in PTC tissue and cells were measured by qRT-PCR and western blot. The biological functions of METTL14, OIP5-AS1, and ADAMTS8 were examined using MTT, colony formation, transwell, and wound healing assays in PTC cells. The relationship between METTL14 and OIP5-AS1 were evaluated using RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) and RNA pull down assay. And the relationship between miR-98 and ADAMTS8 were examined by luciferase reporter assay. For in vivo experiments, a xenograft model was used to investigate the effects of OIP5-AS1 and ADAMTS8 in PTC. Results Functional validation revealed that OIP5-AS1 overexpression promotes PTC cell proliferation, migration/invasion in vitro and in vivo, while OIP5-AS1 knockdown shows an opposite effect. Mechanistically, OIP5-AS1 acts as a target of miR-98, which activates ADAMTS8. OIP5-AS1 promotes PTC cell progression through miR-98/ADAMTS8 and EGFR, MEK/ERK pathways. Furthermore, RIP and RNA pull down assays identified OIP5-AS1 as the downstream target of METTL14. Overexpression of METTL14 suppresses PTC cell proliferation and migration/invasion through inhibiting OIP5-AS1 expression and regulating EGFR, MEK/ERK pathways. Conclusions Collectively, our findings demonstrate that OIP5-AS1 is a METTL14-regulated lncRNA that plays an important role in PTC progression and offers new insights into the regulatory mechanisms underlying PTC development.

Download Full-text

Tamoxifen inhibits growth, migration, and invasion of human follicular and papillary thyroid cancer cells in vitro and in vivo.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism ◽

10.1210/jcem.80.1.7829632 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 80 (1) ◽

pp. 308-313

Author(s):

T Hoelting ◽

A E Siperstein ◽

Q Y Duh ◽

O H Clark

Keyword(s):

Thyroid Cancer ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Papillary Thyroid Cancer ◽

Migration And Invasion ◽

Papillary Thyroid ◽

Thyroid Cancer Cells

Download Full-text

Induction of mTOR signaling pathway in the progression of papillary thyroid cancer

Meta Gene ◽

10.1016/j.mgene.2020.100704 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 24 ◽

pp. 100704

Author(s):

Elham Amjad ◽

Solmaz Asnaashari ◽

Babak Sokouti

Keyword(s):

Thyroid Cancer ◽

Signaling Pathway ◽

Papillary Thyroid Cancer ◽

Mtor Signaling ◽

Papillary Thyroid ◽

Mtor Signaling Pathway

Download Full-text

The Antitumor Effect of Curcumin in Urothelial Cancer Cells Is Enhanced by Light Exposure In Vitro

Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine ◽

10.1155/2019/6374940 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 2019 ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Frederik Roos ◽

Katherina Binder ◽

Jochen Rutz ◽

Sebastian Maxeiner ◽

August Bernd ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cell Cycle ◽

Cell Proliferation ◽

Bladder Cancer ◽

Cell Growth ◽

Visible Light ◽

Cancer Cells ◽

Cell Lines ◽

Light Exposure ◽

Bladder Cancer Cells

The natural compound curcumin exerts antitumor properties in vitro, but its clinical application is limited due to low bioavailability. Light exposure in skin and skin cancer cells has been shown to improve curcumin bioavailability; thus, the object of this investigation was to determine whether light exposure might also enhance curcumin efficacy in bladder cancer cell lines. RT112, UMUC3, and TCCSUP cells were preincubated with low curcumin concentrations (0.1-0.4μg/ml) and then exposed to 1.65 J/cm2visible light for 5 min. Cell growth, cell proliferation, apoptosis, cell cycle progression, and cell cycle regulating proteins along with acetylation of histone H3 and H4 were investigated. Though curcumin alone did not alter cell proliferation or apoptosis, tumor cell growth and proliferation were strongly blocked when curcumin was combined with visible light. Curcumin-light caused the bladder cancer cells to become arrested in different cell phases: G0/G1 for RT112, G2/M for TCCSUP, and G2/M- and S-phase for UMUC3. Proteins of the Cdk-cyclin axis were diminished in RT112 after application of 0.1 and 0.4μg/ml curcumin. Cell cycling proteins were upregulated in TCCSUP and UMUC3 in the presence of 0.1μg/ml curcumin-light but were partially downregulated with 0.4μg/ml curcumin. 0.4μg/ml (but not 0.1μg/ml) curcumin-light also evoked late apoptosis in TCCSUP and UMUC3 cells. H3 and H4 acetylation was found in UMUC3 cells treated with 0.4μg/ml curcumin alone or with 0.1μg/ml curcumin-light, pointing to an epigenetic mechanism. Light exposure enhanced the antitumor potential of curcumin on bladder cancer cells but by different molecular action modes in the different cell lines. Further studies are necessary to evaluate whether intravesical curcumin application, combined with visible light, might become an innovative tool in combating bladder cancer.

Download Full-text