TET1 suppresses colon cancer proliferation by impairing β-catenin signal pathway

The function of ten-eleven translocation methylcytosine dioxygenase 1 (TET1) in cancer is background dependent and may be involved in the initial step of active DNA demethylation, while there is little research to decipher the role of TET1 in DNA methylation-sensitive colon cancer. Downregulated TET1 expression assayed by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) was observed in both colon cancer samples and cancer cell lines of HT29, HCT116, and SW48. Such downregulation could promote colon cancer cells proliferation as indicated by the fact that shTET1 could increase the viability of HT29 and HCT116 cells determined by the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide and cell count assay accompanied with upregulation of β-catenin (CTNNB1) and WNT luciferase activity, which was further confirmed as shTET1 could increase the tumor volume and tumor weight, and decrease the body weight in HT29 cells inoculated BALB/C nude mice. The CTNNB1 transfection could rescue the cell growth diminished by normal expression of TET1. shTET1 could promote axis inhibition protein1 (AXIN1) expression and the cell proliferation effect induced by TET1 short hairpin RNA was attenuated by co-inhibition of AXIN1. All of these indicate that TET1 can suppress colon cancer proliferation and the inhibition of the β-catenin pathway is AXIN1 dependent.     

Estrogen receptor beta mRNA in colon cancer cells: growth effects of estrogen and genistein

Knowledge regarding the expression of the recently cloned estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta) in colonic mucosa is limited. In this study, we demonstrated that five human colon cancer cell lines, HT29, Colo320, Lovo, SW480, and HCT116, expressed ERbeta mRNA, but lacked ERalpha mRNA. Results from a cell growth assay demonstrated that these colon cancer cells were not influenced by estrogen, while genistein possessed slight growth inhibitory effects on HT29, Colo320 and Lovo cells at 10 microM, at which concentration is stimulated the growth of ERalpha-positive human breast cancer MCF-7 cells. Tamoxifen inhibited the growth of HT29 and Colo320 cells, dose-dependently, as well as MCF-7 cells. A transfected reporter plasmid containing a vitellogenin estrogen response element could be activated by estradiol in Colo320 cells. Taken together with previous reports, these data suggest that ERalpha and ERbeta may have different biological functions in colon cells.     

曲古抑菌素A对结肠癌细胞株SW480细胞周期影响的机制研究

为了研究组蛋白去乙酰化酶(HDACs)抑制剂曲古抑菌素A(TSA)对结肠癌细胞周期和凋亡的影响,初步探讨TSA作用细胞周期的可能机制,将人结肠癌细胞系SW480经TSA处理后,运用流式细胞术检测细胞周期、凋亡以及细胞周期素的变化,最后采用western-blot对细胞周期相关的基因进行检测.结果表明,TSA处理细胞后,TSA能够延缓细胞周期G1-S进程,阻滞细胞于G1期,并且影响细胞周期素cyclinE、cyclinA聚集,而对凋亡无明显的影响.Western-blot显示,TSA能够上调p21Waf1/Cip1、p27Kip1的表达,下调CDK2、cyclinE以及cycli-nA的表达.以上结果说明在结肠癌细胞中,TSA能够通过上调p21Waf1/Cip1、p27Kip1的表达以及下调CDK2、cy-clinE、cyclinA的表达,从而阻滞细胞周期于G1期,最终影响肿瘤细胞的生长,以上研究为HDAC抑制剂应用于结肠癌治疗提供了理论依据.     

DHA induces apoptosis by altering the expression and cellular location of GRP78 in colon cancer cell lines

n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids exert growth-inhibitory and pro-apoptotic effects in colon cancer cells. We hypothesized that the anti-apoptotic glucose related protein of 78kDa (GRP78), originally described as a component of the unfolded protein response in endoplasmic reticulum (ER), could be a molecular target for docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) in these cells. GRP78 total and surface overexpression was previously associated with a poor prognosis in several cancers, whereas its down-regulation with decreased cancer growth in animal models. DHA treatment induced apoptosis in three colon cancer cell lines (HT-29, HCT116 and SW480), and inhibited their total and surface GRP78 expression. The cell ability to undergo DHA-induced apoptosis was inversely related to their level of GRP78 expression. The transfection of the low GRP78-expressing SW480 cells with GRP78-GFP cDNA significantly induced cell growth and inhibited the DHA-driven apoptosis, thus supporting the essential role of GRP78 in DHA pro-apoptotic effect. We suggest that pERK1/2 could be the first upstream target for DHA, and demonstrate that, downstream of GRP78, DHA may exert its proapoptotic role by augmenting the expression of the ER resident factors ERdj5 and inhibiting the phosphorylation of PKR-like ER kinase (PERK), known to be both physically associated with GRP78, and by activating caspase-4. Overall, the regulation of cellular GRP78 expression and location is suggested as a possible route through which DHA can exert pro-apoptotic and antitumoral effects in colon cancer cells.     

NDRG1对人肠癌细胞失巢凋亡的影响

目的:探讨NDRG1对体外培养的人肠癌细胞系失巣凋亡的影响。方法:采用慢病毒系统将NDRG1表达单元转入人肠癌细胞系SW620、HCT8中,建立相应的过表达稳定细胞系;通过siRNA的方法干扰HCT116和LOVO细胞系中NDRG1的表达,分别在非贴壁培养的情况下培养48小时,采用流式细胞术和TUNEL染色检测细胞的凋亡情况。结果:在贴壁培养条件下,NDRG1过表达并没有显著影响肠癌细胞的生长及增殖,而NDRG1特异性siRNA干扰HCT116细胞中NDRG1的表达后,其凋亡率无明显变化(P0.05)。在悬浮培养条件下,NDRG1过表达的肠癌细胞的失巢凋亡率显著低于正常对照组(P0.05),而用三种不同的siRNA干扰HCT116及LOVO细胞中NDRG1的表达后,其失巢凋亡率均显著高于正常对照组(P0.05)。结论:NDRG1在体外可抑制人肠癌细胞的失巢凋亡。     

Method for screening ecdysone-inducible stable cell lines

Ecdysone-inducible systems are useful tools to study the function of various genes in different types of mammalian cells. However, it is technically difficult to establish stable cell lines. This is partly because the conditional expression system requires the expression of two or more components driven by different kinds of promoters. In this paper, we describe the use of a luciferase reporter gene system for rapid screening of cell lines that express the ecdysone and retinoid X receptors. Using this system, two human stable colon cancer cell lines, SW480/VgRXR and HCT116/VgRXR, were successfully generated. The expression of these receptors remained high after six months of continuous culturing. A tight regulation of gene induction in SW480/VgRXR was observed using 2 microM Ponasterone A. The gene induction was rapid and persistent. Our results demonstrated the advantage of establishing cell lines that continuously express high levels of ecdysone receptor proteins.     

RNF2 promotes the progression of colon cancer by regulating ubiquitination and degradation of IRF4

Ring finger protein 2 (RNF2), as a well-known E3 ligase, has an oncogenic role in various cancers. The role of RNF2 in colon cancer is still unknown. The aim of this work is to determine the biological role of RNF2 in colon cancer. We first examined the expression of RNF2 and interferon regulatory factor 4 (IRF4) in colon cancer patients and colon cancer cell lines (SW480 and HCT116). Compared with normal tumor-adjacent tissues, RNF2 was up-regulated whereas IRF4 was down-regulated in the colon cancer tissues. RNF2 was also up-regulated in colon cancer cells with respect to human fetal colon epithelial cells. RNF2 overexpression enhanced the ability of proliferation, migration and invasion of SW480 cells, whereas RNF2 knockdown caused an opposite result in HCT116 cells. Furthermore, a tumor xenograft model was constructed to verify the impact of RNF2 overexpressed-SW480 cells on tumor growth. RNF2 up-regulation elevated Ki-67 proliferation index, accelerated the growth of tumor tissues, and led to severe colon tissue damage in the tumor xenograft mice. In addition, RNF2 interacted with IRF4, and repressed IRF4 protein expression. IRF4 was a substrate of RNF2, and RNF2 promoted the ubiquitination and degradation of IRF4. RNF2 overexpression increased the ability of proliferation, migration and invasion in SW480 cells by promoting the ubiquitination and degradation of IRF4. In conclusion, this work demonstrated that RNF2 promoted tumor growth in colon cancer by regulating ubiquitination and degradation of IRF4. Thus, RNF2 may be served as a potential therapeutic target for colon cancer.     

CXC趋化因子配体8促进结直肠癌微环境中M2型巨噬细胞趋化及浸润

CXC趋化因子配体8(CXC chemokine ligand 8,CXCL8)在结直肠癌等多种肿瘤中高表达,并促进肿瘤恶性进展。研究发现,结直肠癌微环境中有大量M2型巨噬细胞浸润,但CXCL8是否影响M2型巨噬细胞的浸润及其潜在机制尚未可知。本文旨在探讨CXCL8对结直肠癌中M2型巨噬细胞浸润及趋化作用的影响。本研究首先分析了TCGA数据库结直肠癌样本中CXCL8表达水平及免疫细胞浸润情况,并在临床组织中进行验证。随后Western 印迹及qRT-PCR检测5种结直肠癌细胞株CXCL8的表达情况。佛波酯(PMA)及IL-4诱导THP-1至M2型巨噬细胞后,与HCT116、SW480细胞及过表达CXCL8的HCT116(CXCL8/HCT116)、SW480(CXCL8/SW480)共培养,检测M2型巨噬细胞趋化情况。白细胞介素1β(IL-1β)处理HCT116、SW480细胞,检测CXCL8表达情况,与M2型巨噬细胞共培养,分析趋化结果。结果显示,患者癌组织CXCL8表达高于癌旁组织,CXCL8高表达癌组织中存在更多M2型巨噬细胞浸润;IL-1β作用于HCT116或SW480后,CXCL8的mRNA及蛋白质表达水平升高(P<0.05)。Transwell实验证实,CXCL8趋化M2型巨噬细胞(P<0.05)。综上所述,结直肠癌细胞中CXCL8可由IL-1β诱导产生,CXCL8表达增加能够促进M2型巨噬细胞的趋化,结直肠癌微环境中M2型巨噬细胞大量浸润可能与CXCL8表达升高有关。     

DNA microarray profiling of genes differentially regulated by the histone deacetylase inhibitors vorinostat and LBH589 in colon cancer cell lines

Background

Despite the significant progress made in colon cancer chemotherapy, advanced disease remains largely incurable and novel efficacious chemotherapies are urgently needed. Histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACi) represent a novel class of agents which have demonstrated promising preclinical activity and are undergoing clinical evaluation in colon cancer. The goal of this study was to identify genes in colon cancer cells that are differentially regulated by two clinically advanced hydroxamic acid HDACi, vorinostat and LBH589 to provide rationale for novel drug combination partners and identify a core set of HDACi-regulated genes.

Methods

HCT116 and HT29 colon cancer cells were treated with LBH589 or vorinostat and growth inhibition, acetylation status and apoptosis were analyzed in response to treatment using MTS, Western blotting and flow cytometric analyses. In addition, gene expression was analyzed using the Illumina Human-6 V2 BeadChip array and Ingenuity^® Pathway Analysis.

Results

Treatment with either vorinostat or LBH589 rapidly induced histone acetylation, cell cycle arrest and inhibited the growth of both HCT116 and HT29 cells. Bioinformatic analysis of the microarray profiling revealed significant similarity in the genes altered in expression following treatment with the two HDACi tested within each cell line. However, analysis of genes that were altered in expression in the HCT116 and HT29 cells revealed cell-line-specific responses to HDACi treatment. In addition a core cassette of 11 genes modulated by both vorinostat and LBH589 were identified in both colon cancer cell lines analyzed.

Conclusion

This study identified HDACi-induced alterations in critical genes involved in nucleotide metabolism, angiogenesis, mitosis and cell survival which may represent potential intervention points for novel therapeutic combinations in colon cancer. This information will assist in the identification of novel pathways and targets that are modulated by HDACi, providing much-needed information on HDACi mechanism of action and providing rationale for novel drug combination partners. We identified a core signature of 11 genes which were modulated by both vorinostat and LBH589 in a similar manner in both cell lines. These core genes will assist in the development and validation of a common gene set which may represent a molecular signature of HDAC inhibition in colon cancer.