Role of epithelial–mesenchymal transition regulated by twist basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 2 (Twist2) in embryo implantation in mice

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (5) ◽  
pp. 932
Author(s):  
Jinhai Gou ◽  
Tingwenyi Hu ◽  
Lin Li ◽  
Luqi Xue ◽  
Xia Zhao ◽  
...  

In a previous study we found the expression of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarkers, including E-cadherin and N-cadherin, was significantly altered in uterine endometrium during embryo implantation via regulation by microRNA (miRNA)-429 and protocadherin-8 (Pcdh8). As a natural continuation of the previous study, the aim of the present study was to explore the role of EMT during embryo implantation and the potential activity of twist basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor 2 (Twist2) in regulating embryo implantation. A pregnancy model was established by naturally mating adult female ICR mice with fertile males. A pseudopregnancy model was established by mating fertile female ICR mice with vasectomised males. An invitro model of embryo implantation was established by the coculture of Ishikawa and JAR spheroids. Endometrial tissue during the peri-implantation period was collected, as were Ishikawa cells, JAR cells and cocultured cells. The expression of EMT markers (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, vimentin and cytokeratin) and Twist2 was detected invivo and invitro using the western blot analysis during embryo implantation. The expression of N-cadherin and vimentin (mesenchymal markers) was upregulated in the invitro implantation model, with downregulation of E-cadherin and cytokeratin (epithelial markers) expression. The expression of N-cadherin, vimentin and Twist2 increased significantly at the implantation sites at the time of implantation (Day 5), whereas the expression of E-cadherin and cytokeratin decreased. Location of Twist2 during embryo implantation was detected by immunohistochemistry (IHC), which revealed that it was extensively expressed in endometrial glandular epithelium and luminal epithelium at implantation sites on Day 5. The effect of the expression of Twist2 on embryo implantation was evaluated by suppressing Twist2 using Twist2-short interference (si) RNA in invivo and invitro models. The numbers of implanted embryos and the implantation rate were compared invivo and invitro. Western blot analysis showed that suppression of Twist2 led to upregulation of E-cadherin and cytokeratin, accompanied by downregulation of N-cadherin and vimentin (P<0.05). The number of implanted embryos after Twist2-siRNA interference was lower than in normal pregnancy (mean (±s.d.) 2.4±0.5 vs 6.8±1.3 respectively; P<0.05). These findings suggest the involvement of EMT in embryo implantation. The suppression of Twist2 could suppress embryo implantation by regulating EMT.

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Haifeng Xia ◽  
Fang Hu ◽  
Liangbin Pan ◽  
Chengcheng Xu ◽  
Haitao Huang ◽  
...  

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.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liza J. Burton ◽  
Jodi Dougan ◽  
Jasmine Jones ◽  
Bethany N. Smith ◽  
Diandra Randle ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) promotes tumor migration and invasion by downregulating epithelial markers such as E-cadherin and upregulating mesenchymal markers such as vimentin. Cathepsin L (Cat L) is a cysteine protease that can proteolytically activate CCAAT displacement protein/cut homeobox transcription factor (CUX1). We hypothesized that nuclear Cat L may promote EMT via CUX1 and that this could be antagonized with the Cat L-specific inhibitor Z-FY-CHO. Mesenchymal prostate (ARCaP-M and ARCaP-E overexpressing Snail) and breast (MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-231, and MCF-7 overexpressing Snail) cancer cells expressed lower E-cadherin activity, higher Snail, vimentin, and Cat L activity, and a p110/p90 active CUX1 form, compared to epithelial prostate (ARCaP-E and ARCaP-Neo) and breast (MCF-7 and MCF-7 Neo) cancer cells. There was increased binding of CUX1 to Snail and the E-cadherin promoter in mesenchymal cells compared to epithelial prostate and breast cells. Treatment of mesenchymal cells with the Cat L inhibitor Z-FY-CHO led to nuclear-to-cytoplasmic relocalization of Cat L, decreased binding of CUX1 to Snail and the E-cadherin promoter, reversed EMT, and decreased cell migration/invasion. Overall, our novel data suggest that a positive feedback loop between Snail-nuclear Cat L-CUX1 drives EMT, which can be antagonized by Z-FY-CHO. Therefore, Z-FY-CHO may be an important therapeutic tool to antagonize EMT and cancer progression.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhenming Jiang ◽  
Yuxi Zhang ◽  
Xi Chen ◽  
Pingeng Wu ◽  
Dong Chen

Abstract Background Prostate cancer (PCa) is a common disease that often occurs among older men and a frequent cause of malignancy associated death in this group. microRNA (miR)-129-5p has been identified as an essential regulator with a significant role in the prognosis of PC. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate roles of miR-129-5p in PCa. Methods Microarray analysis was conducted to identify PCa-related genes. The expression of miR-129-5p and ZIC2 in PCa tissues was investigated. To understand the role of miR-129-5p and ZIC2 in PCa, DU145 cells were transfected with mimic or inhibitor of miR-129-5p, or si-ZIC2 and the expression of Wnt, β-catenin, E-cadherin, vimentin, N-cadherin, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and CD31, as well as the extent of β-catenin phosphorylation was determined. In addition, cell proliferation, migration, invasion, angiogenesis, apoptosis and tumorigenesis were detected. Results miR-129-5p was poorly expressed and ZIC2 was highly expressed in PCa tissues. Down-regulation of ZIC2 or overexpression of miR-129-5p reduced the expression of ZIC2, Wnt, β-catenin, N-cadherin, vimentin, and β-catenin phosphorylation but increased the expression of E-cadherin. Importantly, miR-129-5p overexpression significantly reduced cell migration, invasion, angiogenesis and tumorigenesis while increasing cell apoptosis. Conclusions The findings of the present study indicated that overexpression of miR-129-5p or silencing of ZIC2 could inhibit epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and angiogenesis in PCa through blockage of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.


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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 1215-1221
Author(s):  
Li Jie ◽  
Zhangcai Zheng ◽  
Liping Liu ◽  
Yali Liu ◽  
Zhaoyan Meng ◽  
...  

Preeclampsia (PE) is an idiopathic hypertension syndrome occurring after 20 weeks of gestation. Reports showed that lncRNAs expression was abnormal in preeclampsia. We aimed to investigate the role of lncRNA CEACAMP8 in the proliferation, invasion and migration of trophoblast cells to improve the preeclampsia. The cell transfection effects were determined by RT-qPCR analysis. The proliferation, invasion and migration of HTR-8/SVneo cells were detected by CCK-8 assay, transwell assay and wound healing assay. The flow cytometry analysis analyzed the cell cycle. Moreover, the expression of CDK2, cyclinD1, P21, MMP2, MMP9, E-cadherin, b-catenin and vimentin was determined by the western blot analysis. Consequently, CEACAMP8 inhibition promoted the proliferation, invasion and migration of HTR-8/SVneo cells and kept most of the cells in the S phase. The expression of proteins related to the proliferation, invasion and migration of HTR-8/SVneo cells were also changed in accordance with the increase of proliferation, invasion and migration of HTR-8/SVneo cells. In addition, lncRNA CEACAMP8 inhibition decreased the expression of E-cadherin and b-catenin, and increased the vimentin expression to promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. And, CEACAMP8 overexpression could reverse the above changes. This study indicated that CEACAMP8 inhibition promoted the proliferation, invasion and migration of HTR-8/SVneo cells and lncRNA CEACAMP8 overexpression reversed.


Oncogene ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 35 (24) ◽  
pp. 3151-3162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q Zhang ◽  
T Wei ◽  
K Shim ◽  
K Wright ◽  
K Xu ◽  
...  

Abstract Sprouty (SPRY) appears to act as a tumor suppressor in cancer, whereas we demonstrated that SPRY2 functions as a putative oncogene in colorectal cancer (CRC) (Oncogene, 2010, 29: 5241–5253). We investigated the mechanisms by which SPRY regulates epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) in CRC. SPRY1 and SPRY2 mRNA transcripts were significantly upregulated in human CRC. Suppression of SPRY2 repressed AKT2 and EMT-inducing transcription factors and significantly increased E-cadherin expression. Concurrent downregulation of SPRY1 and SPRY2 also increased E-cadherin and suppressed mesenchymal markers in colon cancer cells. An inverse expression pattern between AKT2 and E-cadherin was established in a human CRC tissue microarray. SPRY2 negatively regulated miR-194-5p that interacts with AKT2 3′ untranslated region. Mir-194 mimics increased E-cadherin expression and suppressed cancer cell migration and invasion. By confocal microscopy, we demonstrated redistribution of E-cadherin to plasma membrane in colon cancer cells transfected with miR-194. Spry1 −/− and Spry2 −/− double mutant mouse embryonic fibroblasts exhibited decreased cell migration while acquiring several epithelial markers. In CRC, SPRY drive EMT and may serve as a biomarker of poor prognosis.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Liu ◽  
Daobao Zhang ◽  
Zhiyong Liu ◽  
Ruichao Liang ◽  
Tian Meng ◽  
...  

Abstract Backgrounds Craniopharyngiomas are benign epithelial tumors and difficult to complete due to the digitate brain infiltration. miR-200c has been studied in terms of development, stemness, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and therapy resistance in many cancers. However, the role of miR-200c remains to be elucidated in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma.Methods Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was used to evaluate the expression of miR-200c, ZEB1, ZEB2, and CTNNB1. Immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and immunofluorescence analyses were used to evaluate the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin at the protein level. A Transwell assay was used to evaluate the invasiveness of ten primary craniopharyngioma cell.Results miR-200c was significantly downregulated in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma compared with papillary craniopharyngioma. Conversely, ZEB1, ZEB2, and CTNNB1 were overexpressed in adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma. Inhibition of miR-200c significantly promoted the invasion of primary adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma cells. Moreover, E-cadherin was overexpressed and β-catenin was downregulated in miR-200c mimic primary adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma cell culture.Conclusion Our data demonstrated that miR-200c maybe reduce the invasive activity of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma cells through E-cadherin/β-catenin. These findings suggest that the targets of miR-200c may regulate the EMT of adamantinomatous craniopharyngioma.


2013 ◽  
Vol 31 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e22021-e22021
Author(s):  
Angelica Figueroa ◽  
Vanessa Abella ◽  
Guadalupe Aparicio ◽  
Mar Haz-Conde ◽  
Javier Gayo ◽  
...  

e22021 Background: Given the role of vinflunine (VFL) in the microtubule dynamics and the link between microtubules and cell adhesions through cadherins, we have investigated the possible influence of VFL on adherens junctions through its interaction with microtubules. We have studied the implication of VFL on the reversion of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in bladder transitional cell carcinoma and explored a possible novel molecular mechanism. Methods: Four human bladder transitional carcinoma cell lines were used to carry out the following experimental procedure: Cytotoxicity assay by using MTT assay, qRTPCR to analyze mRNA markers of the EMT, Western blotting using specific antibodies for EMT markers, and immunofluorescence images, analyzed by epifluorescence microscopy. Results: Cell growth reduction was detected in human bladder carcinoma cells under VFL treatment compared to control. VFL induces mesenchymal to epithelial phenotype and modulates the EMT markers: E-cadherin and Cytokeratin-19 were enhanced under treatment, while significantly reduction of mRNA mesenchymal markers expression (Vimentin, N-cadherin) and EMT-transcriptional factors (Snail and Zeb1) was detected. Strong reduction of Hakai protein was seen under VFL treatment. Hakai was discovered as an E3 ubiquitin-ligase that mediates the posttranslational downregulation of E-cadherin. Epifluorescence images showed that VFL treatment promotes E-cadherin localization specifically at cell-cell contact; while, Hakai expression decreases its expression in the nuclei and cytoplasm. Conclusions: These results suggest that VFL up-regulates E-cadherin contributing to mesenchymal to epithelial transition, and that Hakai modulation might be the molecular mechanism by which the increasing E-cadherin at cell-cell contacts in bladder carcinoma cell lines is detected. Given the relevant in vitro role of VFL on E-cadherin expression and on the reversion of EMT process, we hypothesized that VFL could exert a clinical benefit in delaying the metastasis in urothelial tumors.


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