MTA2 knockdown suppresses human osteosarcoma metastasis by inhibiting uPA expression

The relationship between metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) overexpression and tumor growth and metastasis has been extensively studied in a variety of tumor cells but not in human osteosarcoma cells. This study aims to elucidate the clinical significance, underlying molecular mechanisms, and biological functions of MTA2 in human osteosarcoma in vitro and in vivo. Our results show that MTA2 was elevated in osteosarcoma cell lines and osteosarcoma tissues and was associated with tumor stage and overall survival of osteosarcoma patients. Knockdown of MTA2 inhibited osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion by reducing the expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA). Bioinformatic analysis demonstrated that high levels of uPA in human osteosarcoma tissues correlated positively with MTA2 expression. Furthermore, treatment with recombinant human uPA (Rh-uPA) caused significant restoration of OS cell migration and invasion in MTA2 knockdown osteosarcoma cells. We found that ERK1/2 depletion increased the expression of uPA, facilitating osteosarcoma cell migration and invasion. Finally, MTA2 depletion significantly reduced tumor metastasis and the formation of lung nodules in vivo. Overall, our study suggests that MTA2 knockdown suppresses osteosarcoma cell metastasis by decreasing uPA expression via ERK signaling. This finding provides new insight into potential treatment strategies against osteosarcoma metastasis by targeting MTA2.

Expression and Significance of MTA2 and CPNE1 in Cervical Squamous Cell Carcinoma

The aim of this study was to investigate the expression and clinical significance of MTA2 and CPNE1 proteins in cervical squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, high-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) typing was performed on cervical cancer tissues. Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunochemical EliVision method were used to examine the expressions of MTA2 and CPNE1 in the cervix, and their relationship with clinicopathologic features. We found that it is mainly distributed in these types, namely HPV-16 (23.8%), HPV-18 (20.9%), HPV-53 (17.1%), HPV-52 (15.5%), HPV-82 (11.7%), HPV-56 (10.8%). The expressions of MTA2 and CPNE1 in cervical squamous cell carcinoma tissues were significantly higher than those in normal tissues ( P <0.01). The expressions of MTA2 and CPNE1 were correlated with FIGO stage, degree of differentiation, and lymph node metastasis of cervical cancer ( P <0.05), but not with the patient's age ( P >0.05). The rank correlation coefficient of MTA2 and CPNE1 protein expression in cervical squamous cell carcinoma was 0.668 ( P <0.01), and the 2 expressions were positively correlated. MTA2 and CPNE1 are closely related to the occurrence and development of cervical squamous cell carcinoma and may play a synergistic role in the evolution of cervical squamous cell carcinoma.

Prognostic, Immunological, and Mutational Analysis of MTA2 in Pan-Cancer and Drug Screening for Hepatocellular Carcinoma

BACKGROUND

Metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) is a member of the metastasis-associated transcriptional regulator family and is a core component of the nucleosome remodeling and histone deacetylation complex. Despite growing evidence that MTA2 plays a crucial role in the tumorigenesis of certain cancers, no systematic pan-cancer analysis of MTA2 is available to date. Therefore, the aim of our study is to explore the prognostic value of MTA2 in 33 cancer types and to investigate its potential immune function.

METHODS

by comprehensive use of databases from TCGA, GTEx, GEO, UCSC xena, cBioPortal, comPPI, GeneMANIA, TCIA, MSigDB, and PDB, we applied various bioinformatics approaches to investigate the potential role of MTA2, including analyzing the association of MTA2 with MSI, prognosis, gene mutation, and immune cell infiltration in different tumors. We constructed a nomogram in TCGA-LIHC, performed single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of MTA2 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and screened drugs for the treatment of HCC. Finally, immunohistochemical experiments were performed to verify the expression and prognostic value of MTA2 in HCC. In vitro experiments were employed to observe the growth inhibition effects of MK-886 on the HCC cell line HepG2.

RESULTS

The results suggested that MTA2 was highly expressed in most cancers, and MTA2 expression was associated with the prognosis of different cancers. In addition, MTA2 expression was associated with Tumor Mutation Burden (TMB) in 12 cancer types and MSI in 8 cancer types. Immunoassays indicated that MTA2 positively correlated with activated memory CD4 T cells and M0 macrophage infiltration levels in HCC. ScRNA-seq analysis based on the GEO dataset discovered that MTA2 was significantly expressed in T cells in HCC. Finally, the eXtreme Sum (Xsum) algorithm was used to screen the antitumor drug MK-886, and the molecular docking technique was utilized to reveal the binding capacity between MK-886 and the MTA2 protein. The results demonstrated excellent binding sites between them, which bind to each other through Π-alkyl and alkyl interaction forces. An immunohistochemistry experiment showed that MTA2 protein was highly expressed in HCC, and high MTA2 expression was associated with poor survival in HCC patients. MK-886 significantly inhibited the proliferation and induced cell death of HepG2 cells in a dose-dependent manner.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study demonstrated that MTA2 plays crucial roles in tumor progression and tumor immunity, and it could be used as a prognostic marker for various malignancies. MK-886 might be a powerful drug for HCC.

Long Noncoding RNA TTC39A-AS1 Promotes Breast Cancer Tumorigenicity by Sponging MicroRNA-483-3p and Thereby Upregulating MTA2

INTRODUCTION

In recent years, the regulatory activities of long noncoding RNAs have received increasing attention as an important research focus. This study aimed to characterize the expression and detailed roles of TTC39A antisense RNA 1 (TTC39A-AS1) in breast cancer (BC), in addition to concentrating on its downstream mechanisms.

METHODS

Quantitative RT-PCR was performed to determine the expression levels of TTC39A-AS1, microRNA-483-3p (miR-483-3p), and metastasis-associated gene 2 (MTA2). Further, the detailed functions of TTC39A-AS1 in BC cells were confirmed using the Cell Counting Kit 8 assay, flow cytometric analysis, and Transwell cell migration and invasion assays. The targeting relationship between TTC39A-AS1, miR-483-3p, and MTA2 in BC was predicted via bioinformatics analysis and further confirmed by performing the luciferase reporter assay and RNA immunoprecipitation.

RESULTS

TTC39A-AS1 was present in high levels in BC; this result was confirmed in our sample cohort and The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Patients with BC with a high level of TTC39A-AS1 had a shorter overall survival than those with a low level of TTC39A-AS1. Functionally, the absence of TTC39A-AS1 accelerated cell apo-ptosis but retained cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistically, TTC39A-AS1 functioned as a competing endogenous RNA in BC by sponging miR-483-3p and thereby indirectly increasing MTA2 expression. Finally, rescue experiments revealed that the tumor-inhibiting actions of TTC39A-AS1 knockdown on the malignant characteristics of BC cells could be reversed by inhibiting miR-483-3p or upregulating MTA2.

CONCLUSION

The newly identified TTC39A-AS1/miR-483-3p/MTA2 pathway was revealed to be a critical regulator in the tumorigenicity of BC, possibly offering a novel therapeutic direction for the anticancer treatment of BC.

Inhibition of cell migration and invasion by ICAM-1 binding DNA aptamers

Cancer is the second leading cause of death worldwide and most of the cancer-related deaths result from metastasis. As expressed on the surface of various cancer cell types, intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) has been shown to play a role in the attachment, invasion and migration of tumor cells. In this study, DNA aptamers were generated against ICAM-1 by cell-SELEX and protein SELEX method using ICAM-1⁽⁺⁾ CHO-ICAM-1 cells and ICAM-1 protein, respectively. The pools obtained at the end of the 10th round of both SELEX were sequenced and the most enriched sequences were characterized for their binding behaviors and affinities to ICAM-1⁽⁺⁾ CHO-ICAM-1 and ICAM-1^(-) MIA PaCa-2 cells. Moreover, the inhibition abilities of sequences on migration and invasion were measured. The seven aptamer sequences were obtained selectively binding to CHO-ICAM-1 cells with K_d values in the ranging from 13.8 to 47.1 nM. Four of these aptamers showed inhibition in both migration and invasion of CHO-ICAM-1 cells at least 61%. All these results suggested that these aptamers have potential to detect specifically ICAM-1 expressing tumor cells and inhibit migration and invasion by blocking ICAM-1 related interactions of circulating tumor cells.

Metastasis-Associated Protein 2 Represses NF-κB to Reduce Lung Tumor Growth and Inflammation

Although NF-κB is known to play a pivotal role in lung cancer, contributing to tumor growth, microenvironmental changes, and metastasis, the epigenetic regulation of NF-κB in tumor context is largely unknown. Here we report that the IKK2/NF-κB signaling pathway modulates metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2), a component of the nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase complex (NuRD). In triple transgenic mice, downregulation of IKK2 (Sftpc-cRaf-IKK2DN) in cRaf-induced tumors in alveolar epithelial type II cells restricted tumor formation, whereas activation of IKK2 (Sftpc-cRaf-IKK2CA) supported tumor growth; both effects were accompanied by altered expression of MTA2. Further studies employing genetic inhibition of MTA2 suggested that in primary tumor growth, independent of IKK2, MTA2/NuRD corepressor complex negatively regulates NF-κB signaling and tumor growth, whereas later dissociation of MTA2/NuRD complex from the promoter of NF-κB target genes and IKK2-dependent positive regulation of MTA2 leads to activation of NF-κB signaling, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, and lung tumor metastasis. These findings reveal a previously unrecognized biphasic role of MTA2 in IKK2/NF-κB-driven primary-to-metastatic lung tumor progression. Addressing the interaction between MTA2 and NF-κB would provide potential targets for intervention of tumor growth and metastasis. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings strongly suggest a prominent role of MTA2 in primary tumor growth, lung metastasis, and NF-κB signaling modulatory functions.

MTA2 as a Potential Biomarker and Its Involvement in Metastatic Progression of Human Renal Cancer by miR-133b Targeting MMP-9

Metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) was previously known as a requirement to maintain malignant potentials in several human cancers. However, the role of MTA2 in the progression of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) has not yet been delineated. In this study, MTA2 expression was significantly increased in RCC tissues and cell lines. Increased MTA2 expression was significantly associated with tumour grade (p = 0.002) and was an independent prognostic factor for overall survival with a high RCC tumour grade. MTA2 knockdown inhibited the migration, invasion, and in vivo metastasis of RCC cells without effects on cell proliferation. Regarding molecular mechanisms, MTA2 knockdown reduced the activity, protein level, and mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) in RCC cells. Further analyses demonstrated that patients with lower miR-133b expression had poorer survival rates than those with higher expression from The Cancer Genome Atlas database. Moreover, miR-133b modulated the 3′untranslated region (UTR) of MMP-9 promoter activities and subsequently the migratory and invasive abilities of these dysregulated expressions of MTA2 in RCC cells. The inhibition of MTA2 could contribute to human RCC metastasis by regulating the expression of miR-133b targeting MMP-9 expression.

Repression of metastasis-associated protein 2 for inhibiting metastasis of human oral cancer cells by promoting the p-cofilin-1/ LC3-II expression

BACKGROUND

The overexpression of metastasis-associated protein 2 (MTA2) contributes to human tumor progression and metastasis in various tumor cells. However, the role of MTA2 in human oral cancer progression remains unknown.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

MTA2 expression in human oral tumor tissues and cell lines was measured by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Cell proliferation and cell cycle were analyzed using MTT assay and flow cytometry. The effects of MTA2 on oral cell migration and invasion were investigated using migration and invasion assays. The expression of MTA2, p-cofilin-1, and MTA2-induced LC3-II levels were measured using Western blotting and an immunofluorescence assay.

RESULTS

Based on the human oral cancer tissue array and TCGA database, we found that MTA2 was increased in oral cancer tissues than in non-tumor oral tissues (P < .01). Moreover, MTA2 is significantly associated with tumor grade (P < .01) and the overall survival rate of patients with grade III tumor (P < .05). MTA2 expression in oral cancer cells was markedly higher than that in normal oral cells. Cell proliferation and cell cycle were not significantly changed in the cells inhibited by MTA2. MTA2 knockdown can inhibit cell migration and invasion of human oral cancer cells. Furthermore, we suggest that MTA2 inhibition enhances p-cofilin and LC3-II expression, and the knockdown of LC3-II expression in cells inhibited by MTA2 had the opposite effect.

CONCLUSION

These results indicate that MTA2 may serve as a candidate prognostic biomarker and that targeting autophagy is a potential therapeutic strategy for treating human oral cancer.

MTA2 promotes HCC progression through repressing FRMD6, a key upstream component of hippo signaling pathway

Discerning oncogenic drivers from passengers remains a major effort in understanding of the essence of the initiation and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common primary liver malignancy and the third leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Here we report that MTA2, Metastasis Associated 1 Family Member 2, is significantly up-regulated in HCC. We show that high level of MTA2 expression is strongly correlated with advanced pathological stages and poor overall survival of the patients. Genome-wide identification of the transcriptional targets of MTA2 by ChIP-seq indicates that MTA2 represses a cohort of genes including FRMD6 that are critically involved in the growth and mobility of HCC. We demonstrate that the MTA2 promotes the proliferation and metastasis of HCC in vitro and in vivo through suppressing Hippo signaling pathway. Together, these results reveal a key role for the MTA2-FRDM6-Hippo axis in human hepatocarcinogenesis.

BCSC-1 suppresses human breast cancer metastasis by inhibiting NF-κB signaling

Breast cancer suppressor candidate-1 (BCSC-1; also termed von Willebrand factor A domain containing 5A and LOH11CR2A) is a newly identified candidate tumor suppressor gene that has been implicated in several types of cancer in previous studies. However, there have been few reports about the association between BCSC-1 and human breast cancer in recent years. In the present study, the expression of BCSC-1 in breast cancer was determined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of tissue microarrays and clinical tissue specimens. Subsequently, BCSC-1 gene expression was evaluated in different breast cancer cell lines by quantitative polymerase chain reaction and the MDA-MB-231 cell line was selected for further use in subsequent experiments, due to its low BCSC-1 expression. An MDA-MB-231 cell line with stable overexpression of BCSC-1 was established through transfection with plasmid containing the BCSC-1 gene, and then screening for G418 resistance. Wound-healing, migration and invasion assays were conducted to detect the effect of BCSC-1 on MDA-MB-231 cells. Furthermore, changes in matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), osteopontin (OPN) and the nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) pathway were detected in the current study. Additionally, stable silencing of BCSC-1 expression in MCF-7 cells was performed using a lentivirus. The results of IHC indicated that BCSC-1 is expressed at low levels in breast cancer tissues compared with in normal breast tissue. Results of the wound healing, migration and invasion assays demonstrated that BCSC-1 overexpression reduced the metastasis ability of MDA-MB-231 cells in vitro. Further research confirmed that the BCSC-1 overexpression reduced the expression levels of MMP7, MMP9 and OPN, and the phosphorylation of NF-κB p65. Furthermore, inhibition of BCSC-1 via lentivirus-mediated RNA interference revealed that the downregulation of BCSC-1 increased the invasive ability of MCF-7 cells. In summary, the results demonstrated that BCSC-1 is expressed at low levels in breast cancer tissues, and that it can suppress human breast cancer cell migration and invasion, potentially altering the expression of MMP7, MMP9, OPN, and the activity of the NF-κB pathway. Therefore, BCSC-1 may be useful as a biomarker for the treatment of breast cancer in the future.

Upregulation of metastasis-associated gene 2 promotes cell proliferation and invasion in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Aims

Metastasis-associated gene 2 (MTA2) is reported to play an important role in tumor progression, but little is known about the role of MTA2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). The aim of the study was to explore the expression and function of MTA2 in NPC.

Methods

Expression of MTA2 in NPC tissues and cell lines was detected by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. Relationship between MTA2 expression and clinicopathological features was analyzed. Stable MTA2-overexpressing and MTA2-siliencing NPC cells were established by transfection with plasmids encoding MTA2 cDNA and lentivirus-mediated short hairpin RNA, respectively. Cell viability was determined by Cell Counting Kit-8 and colony formation assay. Cell migration ability was evaluated by wound healing and transwell invasion assay. The impact of MTA2 knockdown on growth and metastasis of CNE2 cells in vivo was determined by nude mouse xenograft models. Expression of several Akt pathway proteins was detected by Western blotting.

Results

MTA2 was upregulated in NPC tissues and three NPC cell lines detected (CNE1, CNE2, and HNE1). MTA2 expression was related to clinical stage and lymph node metastasis of patients with NPC. MTA2 upregulation promoted proliferation and invasion of CNE1 cells, while MTA2 depletion had opposite effects on CNE2 cells. Moreover, MTA2 depletion suppressed growth and metastasis of CNE2 cells in vivo. MTA2 overexpression activated Akt and upregulated the expression of matrix metalloproteinase 7 and cyclin D1.

Conclusion

We conclude that MTA2 acts as an oncogene in tumorigenesis of NPC. MTA2 may be a potential target for gene therapy in NPC.

Downregulation of human intercellular adhesion molecule-1 attenuates the metastatic ability in human breast cancer cell lines

Intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) is a cell surface glycoprotein that belongs to immunoglobulin superfamily and plays an important role in tumor cell expansion or metastasis. However, the detailed mechanisms of ICAM-1 in breast cancer remain unclear. In this study, we evaluated the expression level of ICAM-1 in breast cancer using tissue microarray and clinical tissue specimens by immunohistochemical method, and the results revealed that ICAM-1 is highly expressed in the breast cancer tissues. To investigate whether ICAM-1 can affect the metastasis ability in breast cancer, we knocked down ICAM-1 expression in breast cancer cell line MCF-7 by using lentivirus-mediated RNA interference (RNAi). As a result, we stably silenced ICAM-1 expression in MCF-7 cells by infection with lentivirus expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP), the change of metastatic ability of MCF-7 cells was assessed by wound-healing assay, Transwell assay or clone formation assay. Our results showed that silencing of ICAM-1 can inhibit the metastatic ability of MCF-7 cell lines in vitro significantly, and the decreased migration and invasion was accompanied by a reduction of MMP-14. These results implying that ICAM-1 might be involved in the progression of breast cancer metastasis and lentivirus-mediated silencing of ICAM-1 might be a potential therapeutic approach for the treatment of breast cancer.