Adenovirus-mediated gene transfer of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 inhibits gallbladder carcinoma growth in vitro and in vivo

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 is a potent kallikrein-related protease 12 inhibitor

The protease activities are tightly regulated by inhibitors and dysregulation contribute to pathological processes such as cancer and inflammatory disorders. Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI-2) is a serine proteases inhibitor, that mainly inhibits plasmin. This protease activated matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) and degraded extracellular matrix. Other serine proteases are implicated in these mechanisms like kallikreins (KLKs). In this study, we identified for the first time that TFPI-2 is a potent inhibitor of KLK5 and 12. Computer modeling showed that the first Kunitz domain of TFPI-2 could interact with residues of KLK12 near the catalytic triad. Furthermore, like plasmin, KLK12 was able to activate proMMP-1 and -3, with no effect on proMMP-9. Thus, the inhibition of KLK12 by TFPI-2 greatly reduced the cascade activation of these MMPs and the cleavage of cysteine-rich 61, a matrix signaling protein. Moreover, when TFPI-2 bound to extracellular matrix, its classical localisation, the KLK12 inhibition was retained. Finally, TFPI-2 was downregulated in human non-small-cell lung tumour tissue as compared with non-affected lung tissue. These data suggest that TFPI-2 is a potent inhibitor of KLK12 and could regulate matrix remodeling and cancer progression mediated by KLK12.

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 suppresses the growth of thyroid cancer cells through by induction of apoptosis

BACKGROUND

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor 2 (TFPI-2) has been recently identified as a tumor suppressor gene in several human cancers, whereas its role in thyroid cancer has been unclear.

METHODS

The TFPI-2 protein level in thyroid cancer tissues and cell lines (8305C and B-CPAP) were examined using immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting. The TFPI-2 promoter methylation was examined using methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Lentivirus containing TFPI-2 cDNA (Lenti-TFPI-2) was constructed to elevate TFPI-2 expression in 8305C and B-CPAP cells. The effects of Lenti-TFPI-2 on cell proliferation in vitro and in vivo were evaluated by MTT assay and mouse xenograft model. Annexin V/PI double staining assay was performed to detect the effect of Lenti-TFPI-2 on cell apoptosis.

RESULTS

TFPI-2 protein level were decreased in cancer tissues and lymph node metastasis, and TFPI-2 protein level is positively associated with survival time. The promoter of TFPI-2 is hypermethylated in cancer tissues. TFPI-2 mRNA and protein levels were abundant in normal human thyroid follicular cell line Nthy-ori 3-1 cells, whereas they were decreased in 8305C and B-CPAP cells. pcDNA-TFPI-2 elevated TFPI-2 mRNA and protein in 8305C and B-CPAP cells. TFPI-2 overexpression suppressed proliferation and induced apoptosis of 8305C and B-CPAP cells.

CONCLUSIONS

TFPI-2 inactivation may play a role in thyroid cancer tumorigenesis and development. TFPI-2 overexpression suppressed cell proliferation through induction of cell apoptosis, suggesting that TFPI-2 may serve as a novel and effective target for thyroid cancer therapy.

Decreased expression of TFPI-2 correlated with increased expression of CD133 in cholangiocarcinoma

BACKGROUND

Recent findings suggest decreasing TFPI-2 expression plays a significant role in inhibiting cell migration and tumor invasion. The clinicopathological significance of the expression of TFPI-2 and its possible correlation with the expression of CD133 in cholangiocarcinoma remains to be solved.

METHODS

We investigated if TFPI-2 was involved in the clinicopathological significance of cholangiocarcinoma. An immunohistochemical method was used to detect 218 cases of cholangiocarcinoma, 30 para-neoplastic and 20 normal bile ducts for their expression status of TFPI-2 and CD133, and then the results were analyzed with the patient's age, sex, tumor site and the histological grade, clinical stage as well as overall mean survival time.

RESULTS

Compared with the para-neoplastic and normal cholangiocytes, the expression of TFPI-2 was obviously decreased while the expression of CD133 in carcinoma cells was increased. Carcinomas with low expression of TFPI-2 were significantly corresponding to the tumor site (P = 0.006), size (P = 0.005), histological grade (P = 0.0001) and clinical stage (P = 0.0001), but not to the age (P = 0.066) and sex (P = 0.411), respectively. By Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, the low expression of TFPI-2 was significantly correlative with the overall survival time (P = 0.0001). Further, the expression of TFPI-2 was found inversely correlative with the expression of CD133 (g = -0.3876, P < 0.0001).

CONCLUSIONS

Our finding suggests that the decreased expression of TFPI-2 may play an important role in the carcinogenesis and progression, and may become a new adjunct marker in the diagnosis and prognosis in cholangiocarcinoma. The expression of TFPI-2 may be inversely correlative with the expression of CD133.

Promoter hypermethylation and silencing of tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background

The treatment of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) following early detection is associated with good outcomes. Therefore, the survival and prognosis of OSCC patients could be hugely improved by identifying reliable biomarkers for the early diagnosis of the disease. Our previous methylation microarray analysis results have suggested that the gene encoding tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) is a potential clinical predictor as well as a key regulator involved in OSCC malignancy.

Methods

Methylation of the TFPI-2 promoter in oral tissue specimens was evaluated by bisulfite sequencing assay, quantitative methylation-specific PCR, and pyrosequencing assay. The differences in methylation levels among the groups were compared using the Mann–Whitney U test. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) was used to evaluate the discrimination ability for detecting OSCC. Cellular TFPI-2 expression was analyzed by quantitative reverse-transcription PCR before and after treatment with 5′-aza-2′-deoxycytidine and trichostatin A, to confirm whether TFPI-2 was epigenetically silenced in OSCC cells. We investigated whether TFPI-2 plays a role as a tumor suppressor by establishing TFPI-2-overexpressing OSCC cells and subjecting them to in vitro cellular proliferation, migration, and invasion assays, as well as an in vivo metastasis assay.

Results

TFPI-2 was hypermethylated in OSCC tissues versus normal oral tissues (P < 0.0001), with AUROC = 0.91, when using a pyrosequencing assay to quantify the methylation level. TFPI-2 silencing in OSCC was regulated by both DNA methylation and chromatin histone modification. Restoration of TFPI-2 counteracted the invasiveness of OSCC by inhibiting the enzymatic activity of matrix metalloproteinase-2, and consequently interfered with OSCC metastasis in vivo.

Conclusions

Our data suggest strongly that TFPI-2 is a down-regulated tumor suppressor gene in OSCC, probably involving epigenetic silencing mechanisms. The loss of TFPI-2 expression is a key event for oral tumorigenesis, especially in the process of tumor metastasis.

Inhibitory effects of deleted in liver cancer 1 gene on gallbladder cancer growth through induction of cell cycle arrest and apoptosis

BACKGROUND AND AIM

The biological function of tumor suppressor deleted in liver cancer 1 (DLC1) has been investigated in several types of human cancer, but its role in gallbladder cancer (GBC) is yet to be determined. In this research, we conducted in vitro and in vivo analysis to evaluate the inhibitory activities of DLC1 gene against GBC growth.

METHODS

DLC1 expression in GBC tissues and cell lines was examined by immunohistochemical staining, reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot assay. The in vitro and in vivo effects of ectopic DLC1 expression on cell growth were evaluated. In addition, the effects of ectopic DLC1 expression on cell cycle, apoptosis, and migration were also evaluated. The expressions of cell cycle-related and apoptosis-related proteins were examined.

RESULTS

The downregulation of DLC1 expression was a common event in GBC tissues and cell lines. Restoration of DLC1 expression in GBC-SD and NOZ cells significantly reduced cell proliferation, migration in vitro, and the ability of these cells to form tumors in vivo. Restoration of DLC1 expression arrested GBC-SD and NOZ cells in G0/G1 phase through inducing p21 in a p53-independent manner. In addition, restoration of DLC1 expression induced extrinsic and intrinsic apoptotic pathway through promoting the expressions of Fas L/FADD, Bax, cytochrome c, cleaved caspase-8, -9, -3, and cleaved poly-(ADP-ribose) polymerase and suppressing bcl-2 expression in GBC-SD and NOZ cells.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings suggested that dysregulated expression of DLC1 is involved in proliferation and invasion of GBC cells and may serve as a potential therapeutic target.

Beneficial role of overexpression of TFPI-2 on tumour progression in human small cell lung cancer

Tissue factor pathway inhibitor-2 (TFPI-2) is a potent inhibitor of plasmin, a protease which is involved in tumour progression by activating (MMPs). This therefore makes TFPI-2 a potential inhibitor of invasiveness and the development of metastases. In this study, low levels of TFPI-2 expression were found in 65% of patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC), the most aggressive type of lung cancer. To study the impact of TFPI-2 in tumour progression, TFPI-2 was overexpressed in NCI-H209 SCLC cells which were orthotopically implanted in nude mice. Investigations showed that TFPI-2 inhibited lung tumour growth. Such inhibition could be explained in vitro by a decrease in tumour cell viability, blockade of G1/S phase cell cycle transition and an increase in apoptosis shown in NCI-H209 cells expressing TFPI-2. We also demonstrated that TFPI-2 upregulation in NCI-H209 cells decreased MMP expression, particularly by downregulating MMP-1 and MMP-3. Moreover, TFPI-2 inhibited phosphorylation of the MAPK signalling pathway proteins involved in the induction of MMP transcripts, among which MMP-1 was predominant in SCLC tissues and was inversely expressed with TFPI-2 in 35% of cases. These results suggest that downregulation of TFPI-2 expression could favour the development of SCLC.

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The Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor-2 inhibits small cell lung cancer growth

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Monitoring of small cell lung cancer growth in a mouse orthotopic model by imaging

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Increasing information on the role of TFPI-2 in human lung tumour cells

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Increasing information on TFPI-2 and protease expression in human tissue samples