Splice variants of the extracellular region of RON receptor tyrosine kinase in lung cancer cell lines identified by PCR and sequencing

Splicing to orchestrate cell fate

Alternative splicing (AS) plays a critical role in gene expression by generating protein diversity from single genes. This review provides an overview of the role of AS in regulating cell fate, focusing on its involvement in processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and tumorigenesis. We explore how AS influences the cell cycle, particularly its impact on key stages like G1, S, and G2/M. The review also examines AS in cell differentiation, highlighting its effects on mesenchymal stem cells and neurogenesis, and how it regulates differentiation into adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes. Additionally, we discuss the role of AS in programmed cell death, including apoptosis and pyroptosis, and its contribution to cancer progression. Importantly, targeting aberrant splicing mechanisms presents promising therapeutic opportunities for restoring normal cellular function. By synthesizing recent findings, this review provides insights into how AS governs cellular fate and offers directions for future research into splicing regulatory networks.

MAGOH promotes gastric cancer progression via hnRNPA1 expression inhibition-mediated RONΔ160/PI3K/AKT signaling pathway activation

BACKGROUND

Gastric cancer (GC) is associated with high mortality and heterogeneity and poses a great threat to humans. Gene therapies for the receptor tyrosine kinase RON and its spliceosomes are attracting increasing amounts of attention due to their unique characteristics. However, little is known about the mechanism involved in the formation of the RON mRNA alternative spliceosome RONΔ160.

METHODS

Fourteen human GC tissue samples and six normal gastric tissue samples were subjected to label-free relative quantitative proteomics analysis, and MAGOH was identified as a candidate protein for subsequent studies. The expression of MAGOH in clinical specimens was verified by quantitative real-time PCR and western blotting. We then determined the biological function of MAGOH in GC through in vitro and in vivo experiments. RNA pulldown, RNA sequencing and RNA immunoprecipitation (RIP) were subsequently conducted to uncover the underlying mechanism by which MAGOH regulated the formation of RONΔ160.

RESULTS

Proteomic analysis revealed that MAGOH, which is located at key nodes and participates in RNA processing and mRNA splicing, was upregulated in GC tissue and GC cell lines and was associated with poor prognosis. Functional analysis showed that MAGOH promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of GC cells in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, MAGOH inhibited the expression of hnRNPA1 and reduced the binding of hnRNPA1 to RON mRNA, thereby promoting the formation of RONΔ160 to activate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and consequently facilitating GC progression.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study revealed that MAGOH could promote the formation of RONΔ160 and activate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway through the inhibition of hnRNPA1 expression. We elucidate a novel mechanism and potential therapeutic targets for the growth and metastasis of GC based on the MAGOH-RONΔ160 axis, and these findings have important guiding significance and clinical value for the future development of effective therapeutic strategies for GC.

Regulation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transitions by Alternative Splicing: Potential New Area for Cancer Therapeutics

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a complicated biological process in which cells with epithelial phenotype are transformed into mesenchymal cells with loss of cell polarity and cell-cell adhesion and gain of the ability to migrate. EMT and the reverse mesenchymal-epithelial transitions (METs) are present during cancer progression and metastasis. Using the dynamic switch between EMT and MET, tumour cells can migrate to neighbouring organs or metastasize in the distance and develop resistance to traditional chemotherapy and targeted drug treatments. Growing evidence shows that reversing or inhibiting EMT may be an advantageous approach for suppressing the migration of tumour cells or distant metastasis. Among different levels of modulation of EMT, alternative splicing (AS) plays an important role. An in-depth understanding of the role of AS and EMT in cancer is not only helpful to better understand the occurrence and regulation of EMT in cancer progression, but also may provide new therapeutic strategies. This review will present and discuss various splice variants and splicing factors that have been shown to play a crucial role in EMT.

Alternative Splicing Events and Their Clinical Significance in Colorectal Cancer: Targeted Therapeutic Opportunities

Colorectal cancer (CRC) ranks as one of the top causes of cancer mortality worldwide and its incidence is on the rise, particularly in low-middle-income countries (LMICs). There are several factors that contribute to the development and progression of CRC. Alternative splicing (AS) was found to be one of the molecular mechanisms underlying the development and progression of CRC. With the advent of genome/transcriptome sequencing and large patient databases, the broad role of aberrant AS in cancer development and progression has become clear. AS affects cancer initiation, proliferation, invasion, and migration. These splicing changes activate oncogenes or deactivate tumor suppressor genes by producing altered amounts of normally functional or new proteins with different, even opposing, functions. Thus, identifying and characterizing CRC-specific alternative splicing events and variants might help in designing new therapeutic splicing disrupter drugs. CRC-specific splicing events can be used as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. In this review, alternatively spliced events and their role in CRC development will be discussed. The paper also reviews recent research on alternatively spliced events that might be exploited as prognostic, diagnostic, and targeted therapeutic indicators. Of particular interest is the targeting of protein arginine methyltransferase (PMRT) isoforms for the development of new treatments and diagnostic tools. The potential challenges and limitations in translating these discoveries into clinical practice will also be addressed.

An Introduction and Overview of RON Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Signaling

RON is a receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) of the MET receptor family that is canonically involved in mediating growth and inflammatory signaling. RON is expressed at low levels in a variety of tissues, but its overexpression and activation have been associated with malignancies in multiple tissue types and worse patient outcomes. RON and its ligand HGFL demonstrate cross-talk with other growth receptors and, consequentially, positions RON at the intersection of numerous tumorigenic signaling programs. For this reason, RON is an attractive therapeutic target in cancer research. A better understanding of homeostatic and oncogenic RON activity serves to enhance clinical insights in treating RON-expressing cancers.

Role of hemoglobin alpha and hemoglobin beta in non-small-cell lung cancer based on bioinformatics analysis

The differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified and screened differentially in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using information from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and Gene Expression Omnibus databases, and the correlation of DEGs in protein interaction, function, and pathway enrichment were analyzed to search for new biomarkers and potential therapeutic targets for NSCLC. Protein-protein interaction network (PPI) analysis showed that CDK1 and GNGT1 were the most significantly upregulated hub nodes, while FPR2 was the most significantly downregulated. Gene Ontology enrichment analysis showed that upregulated DEGs were significantly enriched in protein heterodimerization activity and other functions, while downregulated DEGs were enriched in functions such as heparin-binding. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analysis showed that upregulation of DEGs were significantly associated with neuroactive ligand-receptor interaction pathways, while downregulation of DEGs were significantly associated with malaria pathways. According to the analysis results, we identified hemoglobin alpha (HBA) and hemoglobin beta (HBB) as the genes of interest for further study. Through tissue level and cell level experiments, we found that the expressions of HBA and HBB in NSCLC tissues were significantly lower than those in paracancerous tissues, and downregulation of HBA and HBB could significantly affect the proliferation ability of NSCLC cells. In addition, we also found that changes in HBA and HBB may affect NSCLC cells through the p38/MAPK pathway and JNK pathway, and ultimately affect the occurrence and development of NSCLC.

MicroRNA Expression Profiling of Lung Cancer with Differential Expression of the RON Receptor Tyrosine Kinase

Background

The Ron receptor tyrosine kinase (RON) can act as a protooncogene and may play a prominent role in the initiation and development of lung cancer. microRNAs (miRNA) are master regulators of gene expression through direct or indirect regulation, and impact all aspects of cell biology.

Methods

Nonsmall-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) samples and small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) were stratified based on RON expression to identify miRNA profiles associated with RON expression levels, differentially expressed miRNA regulated by RON were screened out, and their biological behavior was analyzed.

Results

miRNA expression was most significantly affected by cancer type, and we found 85 miRNAs that were significantly differentially expressed between NSCLC and SCLC. There were 46 miRNAs differentially expressed between high RON expressing NSCLC compared to low RON expressing NSCLC. Biological processes and pathways found to be significantly influenced by RON expression included epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and activation of the PI3K-Akt and MAPK signaling pathways.

Conclusions

These data may provide the basis for a novel strategy to characterize lung cancer by RON expression and microRNA genotyping.

The effect of splicing MST1R in gastric cancer was enhanced by lncRNA FENDRR

Gastric cancer (GC) poses a serious threat to human health worldwide. Serine/arginine rich splicing factor 1 (SRSF1) has been reported to serve regulatory roles during the tumorigenesis of GC. In addition, the macrophage stimulating 1 receptor (MST1R) signaling pathway was found to participate in the progression of GC. However, the association between MST1R and SRSF1 in the tumorigenesis of GC remains unclear. The expression levels of MST1R and the recepteur d'origine nantais (RON) Δ160 splicing variant were analyzed in cells using western blotting and immunofluorescence staining. Co-immunoprecipitation assays were used to investigate the interaction between SRSF1 and MST1R. A Cell Counting Kit-8 assay was performed to analyze cell viability. Flow cytometry and Transwell assays were used to determine cell apoptosis and invasiveness levels. The potential interaction between SFSR1 and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) was investigated with an online bioinformatics tool. The findings of the present study revealed that the expression levels of MST1R and RON Δ160 were significantly upregulated in GC Kato III cells. SRSF1 was found to be regulated by the lncRNA FOXF1 adjacent non-coding developmental regulatory RNA (FENDRR). The knockdown of SRSF1 or FENDRR downregulated the expression levels of MST1R in Kato III cells. In addition, the expression levels of RON Δ160 were markedly downregulated in Kato III cells following the knockdown of FENDRR. Meanwhile, SRSF1 directly bound to MST1R, while this phenomenon was partially reversed by FENDRR short interfering RNA. FENDRR could interact with SRSF1 in Kato III cells and the knockdown of FENDRR also induced the apoptosis of GC cells. In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggested that the lncRNA FENDRR may function as an oncogene during the progression of GC by regulating alternative splicing of MST1R and SRSF1 expression levels. lncRNA FENDRR may serve as a potential marker for the diagnosis or target for the treatment of GC.

Nonsense-mediated RNA decay and its bipolar function in cancer

Nonsense-mediated decay (NMD) was first described as a quality-control mechanism that targets and rapidly degrades aberrant mRNAs carrying premature termination codons (PTCs). However, it was found that NMD also degrades a significant number of normal transcripts, thus arising as a mechanism of gene expression regulation. Based on these important functions, NMD regulates several biological processes and is involved in the pathophysiology of a plethora of human genetic diseases, including cancer. The present review aims to discuss the paradoxical, pro- and anti-tumorigenic roles of NMD, and how cancer cells have exploited both functions to potentiate the disease. Considering recent genetic and bioinformatic studies, we also provide a comprehensive overview of the present knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of different NMD modulation-based approaches in cancer therapy, reflecting on the challenges imposed by the complexity of this disease. Furthermore, we discuss significant advances in the recent years providing new perspectives on the implications of aberrant NMD-escaping frameshifted transcripts in personalized immunotherapy design and predictive biomarker optimization. A better understanding of how NMD differentially impacts tumor cells according to their own genetic identity will certainly allow for the application of novel and more effective personalized treatments in the near future.

Perspective in Alternative Splicing Coupled to Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay

Alternative splicing (AS) of precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) is a cellular post-transcriptional process that generates protein isoform diversity. Nonsense-mediated RNA decay (NMD) is an mRNA surveillance pathway that recognizes and selectively degrades transcripts containing premature translation-termination codons (PTCs), thereby preventing the production of truncated proteins. Nevertheless, NMD also fine-tunes the gene expression of physiological mRNAs encoding full-length proteins. Interestingly, around one third of all AS events results in PTC-containing transcripts that undergo NMD. Numerous studies have reported a coordinated action between AS and NMD, in order to regulate the expression of several genes, especially those coding for RNA-binding proteins (RBPs). This coupling of AS to NMD (AS-NMD) is considered a gene expression tool that controls the ratio of productive to unproductive mRNA isoforms, ultimately degrading PTC-containing non-functional mRNAs. In this review, we focus on the mechanisms underlying AS-NMD, and how this regulatory process is able to control the homeostatic expression of numerous RBPs, including splicing factors, through auto- and cross-regulatory feedback loops. Furthermore, we discuss the importance of AS-NMD in the regulation of biological processes, such as cell differentiation. Finally, we analyze interesting recent data on the relevance of AS-NMD to human health, covering its potential roles in cancer and other disorders.

The HNRNPA2B1-MST1R-Akt axis contributes to epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in head and neck cancer

The deregulation of splicing factors and alternative splicing are increasingly viewed as major contributory factors in tumorigenesis. In this study, we report overexpression of a key splicing factor, heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2B1 (HNRNPA2B1), and thereby misregulation of alternative splicing, which is associated with the poor prognosis of head and neck cancer (HNC). The role of HNRNPA2B1 in HNC tumorigenesis via deregulation of alternative splicing is not well understood. Here, we found that the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of HNRNPA2B1 results in inhibition of HNC cells growth via the misregulation of alternative splicing of MST1R, WWOX, and CFLAR. We investigated the mechanism of HNRNPA2B1-mediated HNC cells growth and found that HNRNPA2B1 plays an important role in the alternative splicing of a proto-oncogene, macrophage stimulating 1 receptor (MST1R), which encodes for the recepteur d'origine nantais (RON), a receptor tyrosine kinase. Our results indicate that HNRNPA2B1 mediates the exclusion of cassette exon 11 from MST1R, resulting in the generation of RON∆165 isoform, which was found to be associated with the activation of Akt/PKB signaling in HNC cells. Using the MST1R-minigene model, we validated the role of HNRNPA2B1 in the generation of RON∆165 isoform. The depletion of HNRNPA2B1 results in the inclusion of exon 11, thereby reduction of RON∆165 isoform. The decrease of RON∆165 isoform causes inhibition of Akt/PKB signaling, which results in the upregulation of E-cadherin and downregulation of vimentin leading to the reduced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. The overexpression of HNRNPA2B1 in HNRNPA2B1 knockout cells rescues the expression of the RON∆165 isoform and leads to activation of Akt/PKB signaling and induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in HNC cells. In summary, our study identifies HNRNPA2B1 as a putative oncogene in HNC that promotes Akt/PKB signaling via upregulation of RON∆165 isoform and promotes epithelial to mesenchymal transition in head and neck cancer cells.

Alternative Splicing: Expanding the Landscape of Cancer Biomarkers and Therapeutics

Alternative splicing (AS) is a critical post-transcriptional regulatory mechanism used by more than 95% of transcribed human genes and responsible for structural transcript variation and proteome diversity. In the past decade, genome-wide transcriptome sequencing has revealed that AS is tightly regulated in a tissue- and developmental stage-specific manner, and also frequently dysregulated in multiple human cancer types. It is currently recognized that splicing defects, including genetic alterations in the spliced gene, altered expression of both core components or regulators of the precursor messenger RNA (pre-mRNA) splicing machinery, or both, are major drivers of tumorigenesis. Hence, in this review we provide an overview of our current understanding of splicing alterations in cancer, and emphasize the need to further explore the cancer-specific splicing programs in order to obtain new insights in oncology. Furthermore, we also discuss the recent advances in the identification of dysregulated splicing signatures on a genome-wide scale and their potential use as biomarkers. Finally, we highlight the therapeutic opportunities arising from dysregulated splicing and summarize the current approaches to therapeutically target AS in cancer.

RON receptor tyrosine kinase in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: Pathogenic mechanism in malignancy and pharmaceutical target for therapy

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most aggressive cancers with poor prognosis and high mortality. Molecular aberrations associated with PDAC pathogenesis and progression have been extensively investigated. Nevertheless, these findings have not been translated into clinical practice. Lack of therapeutics for PDAC treatment is another challenge. Recent application of molecularly targeted and immunoregulatory therapies appears to be disappointing. Thus, discovery of new targets and therapeutics is urgently needed to combat this malignant disease. The RON receptor tyrosine kinase is a tumorigenic determinant in PDAC malignancy, which provides the rationale to target RON for PDAC treatment. In this review, we summarize the latest evidence of RON in PDAC pathogenesis and the development of anti-RON antibody-drug conjugates for potential PDAC therapy. The finding that anti-RON antibody-drug conjugates show efficacy in preclinical animal models highlights the potential of this novel class of anti-cancer biotherapeutics in future clinical trials.

Therapeutic anti-cancer activity of antibodies targeting sulfhydryl bond constrained epitopes on unglycosylated RON receptor tyrosine kinase

Recepteur d'origine nantais (RON) receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) and its ligand, serum macrophage-stimulating protein (MSP), are well-established oncogenic drivers for tumorigenesis and metastasis. RON is often found to be alternatively spliced resulting in various isoforms that are constitutively active. RON is therefore an attractive target for cancer therapeutics, including small molecular inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies. While small molecule inhibitors of RON may inhibit other protein kinases including the highly similar MET kinase, monoclonal antibodies targeting RON are more specific, potentially inducing fewer side effects. Although anti-RON monoclonal antibody therapies have been developed and tested in clinical trials, they were met with limited success. Cancer cells have been associated with aberrant glycosylation mechanisms. Notably for RON, the loss of N-bisected glycosylation is a direct cause for tumorigenesis and poorer prognosis in cancer patients. Particularly in gastric cancer, aberrant RON glycosylation augments RON activation. Here, we present a novel panel of monoclonal antibodies which potentially widens the specific targeting of not only the glycosylated RON, but also unglycosylated and aberrantly glycosylated RON. Our antibodies can bind strongly to deglycosylated RON from tunicamycin treated cells, recognise RON in IHC/IF and possess superior therapeutic efficacy in RON expressing xenograft tumours. Our most potent antibody in xenograft assays, is directed to the RON alpha chain and targets a sulfhydryl bond constrained epitope that appears to be cryptic in the crystal structure. This establishes the paradigm that such constrained and cryptic epitopes represent good targets for therapeutic antibodies.

Receptor tyrosine kinase, RON, promotes tumor progression by regulating EMT and the MAPK signaling pathway in human oral squamous cell carcinoma

The receptor tyrosine kinase, recepteur d'origine nantais (RON), is known to be associated with the progression, metastasis, and prognosis of various types of cancers. Nevertheless, the role of RON in human oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is unclear. This study evaluated whether RON affects oncogenic behavior, oncogenic signaling pathways, and clinical outcomes, including survival, in human OSCC. Reverse transcription‑PCR, quantitative PCR, western blotting and immunohistochemical staining were used to determine mRNA and protein expression levels of RON. Cell invasion, migration and apoptosis assays were used to assess the functional effects of small interfering RNA‑mediated knockdown of RON or snail family transcriptional repressor 2 (SLUG). RON knockdown suppressed tumor cell invasion and migration and enhanced apoptosis in human OSCC cells. RON knockdown also decreased the phosphorylation of MAPK signaling proteins, such as ERK1/2, JNK and p38. In addition, RON knockdown suppressed the expression of the epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT)‑related transcription factor, SLUG. SLUG knockdown blocked the enhancement of cell invasion and migration induced by macrophage‑stimulation protein (MSP)‑mediated RON activation in OSCC cells. The cell morphology was changed to spindle‑like shape under MSP‑mediated RON activation in OSCC cells. RON was overexpressed in both fresh and paraffin‑embedded human OSCC tissues. Taken together, these results indicate that RON contributed to tumor progression by regulating the EMT‑related factor, SLUG, and the MAPK pathway in OSCC. This study may provide a theoretical basis for the application of RON‑targeting agents, currently being studied in various cancer fields, for the treatment of OSCC.

Alternative-splicing defects in cancer: Splicing regulators and their downstream targets, guiding the way to novel cancer therapeutics

Defects in alternative splicing are frequently found in human tumors and result either from mutations in splicing-regulatory elements of specific cancer genes or from changes in the regulatory splicing machinery. RNA splicing regulators have emerged as a new class of oncoproteins and tumor suppressors, and contribute to disease progression by modulating RNA isoforms involved in the hallmark cancer pathways. Thus, dysregulation of alternative RNA splicing is fundamental to cancer and provides a potentially rich source of novel therapeutic targets. Here, we review the alterations in splicing regulatory factors detected in human tumors, as well as the resulting alternatively spliced isoforms that impact cancer hallmarks, and discuss how they contribute to disease pathogenesis. RNA splicing is a highly regulated process and, as such, the regulators are themselves tightly regulated. Differential transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of splicing factors modulates their levels and activities in tumor cells. Furthermore, the composition of the tumor microenvironment can also influence which isoforms are expressed in a given cell type and impact drug responses. Finally, we summarize current efforts in targeting alternative splicing, including global splicing inhibition using small molecules blocking the spliceosome or splicing-factor-modifying enzymes, as well as splice-switching RNA-based therapeutics to modulate cancer-specific splicing isoforms. This article is categorized under: RNA in Disease and Development > RNA in Disease RNA Processing > Splicing Regulation/Alternative Splicing.