Effects of TESTIN gene expression on proliferation and migration of the 5-8F nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line

The value of lung function assessment and Testin expression detection in clinicopathological features and prognosis of NSCLC patients

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study is to investigate the clinical value and potential prognostic significance of lung function assessment and Testin expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.

METHODS

The NSCLC patients were classified into three groups according to lung function: group of normal lung function, group of PRISm (preserved ratio impaired spirometry) (FEV1, forced expiratory volume during the first second < 80% predicted and FEV1/FVC (forced vital capacity) ≥ 70%) and group of COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) (FEV1/FVC < 70%). The pre-operational clinicopathological characteristics of these patients were recorded and the markers of systemic inflammatory response, including neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR), lymphocyte to monocyte ratio (LMR), platelet to lymphocyte ratio (PLR) and eosinophils (EOS), were compared between three groups. The expression of Testin in NSCLC samples was detected by IHC and we further explored the correlation between Testin expression and clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of NSCLC patients. Finally, Cox regression analysis was conducted to study the prognostic factors of NSCLC patients.

RESULTS

Of the 158 NSCLC patients, percentages of normal lung function, PRISm and COPD were 41.4%, 22.8% and 36.1%, respectively. Patients with tumor in the left lung were more likely to have pulmonary dysfunction (PRISm and COPD) than the right lung. The markers of systemic inflammatory response showed differences to various degree in the three groups and NSCLC patients with PRISm or COPD presented more unfavorable prognosis than patients with normal function. The expression of Testin correlated with lymph node metastasis, TNM stage and tumor invasion of NSCLC patients. Moreover, patients with low Testin expression exhibited poorer disease-free survival and overall survival than those with high Testin expression. In Cox regression analysis, we found that PRISm, COPD and Testin expression served as prognostic factors in NSCLC patients.

CONCLUSIONS

The presence of COPD or PRISm influenced systemic inflammatory response and prognosis of NSCLC patients. Testin expression correlated with clinicopathological features and could be potentially used as a prognostic marker in NSCLC.

The relationship between TESTIN expression and the prognosis of colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) represents a most grave healthy burden worldwide. TESTIN has been confirmed as a predictive biomarker for several cancers. In the present study, we sought to assess the expression level and prognostic values of TESTIN in CRC.

METHODS

The levels of TESTIN mRNA and protein were detected in 132 paired CRC tissues and noncancerous ones via quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays, respectively. Chi-square test was adopted to analyze the association of TESTIN expression with clinicopathological profiles of CRC patients. To explore prognostic value of TESTIN, Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analyses were employed.

RESULTS

TESTIN expression was down-regulated among CRC tissues in comparison to bordering cancer-free samples at both protein and mRNA levels (P < 0.001). Decreased TESTIN expression was closely related to poor tumor differentiation (P = 0.001) and advanced TNM stages (P = 0.001). CRC cases with low expression of TESTIN were more likely to undergo dismal overall survivals (log-rank P = 0.003). Multivariate Cox analysis unveiled that down-regulated expression of TESTIN was independently correlated with poor prognosis (HR=2.422, 95% CI=1.294-4.535, P = 0.006).

CONCLUSION

The down-regulation of TESTIN may predict dismal prognosis for CRC patients.

Silencing of Testin expression is a frequent event in spontaneous lymphomas from Trp53-mutant mice

The tumour suppressor gene, TES, is frequently methylated in many human tumours. Previously, we demonstrated that TES promoter methylation and transcriptional silencing was the most common molecular abnormality detected in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL). Trp53-mutant mouse models predominantly develop B- and T-cell lymphomas, which are widely considered equivalent to childhood T and B ALL. In this study, we examined expression of Tes transcript and Testin protein in spontaneous tumours obtained from three Trp53-mutant mouse models. Using immunohistochemistry, we report that 47% of lymphomas lacked Testin protein compared to only 7% of non-lymphoid tumours. Further examination of the lymphomas from Trp53-null and Trp53-mΔpro homozygous mutant mice revealed that 63% and 69% respectively of the isolated lymphomas were Testin negative, which is similar to reported rates in childhood T-ALL. Surprisingly, lymphomas from Trp53-Δ122 mice were frequently Testin positive (> 60%), suggesting that the presence of the Trp53-Δ122 protein appeared to mitigate the requirement for Tes silencing in lymphomagenesis. Quantitative RT-PCR results confirmed that this lack of Testin protein was due to Tes transcriptional silencing, although bisulfite sequencing demonstrated that this was not due to promoter methylation. These results are consistent with the Testin protein having lymphoid tumour suppressor activity in both mice and humans.

A comparative analysis of gene expression induced by the embryo in the caprine endometrium

Transcriptomics is an established powerful tool to identify potential mRNAs and ncRNAs (non‐coding RNAs) for endometrial receptivity. In this study, the goat endometrium at estrus day 5 (ED5) and estrus day 15 (ED15) were selected to systematically analyse the differential expressed genes (DEGs) what were induced by the embryo. There were 1,847 genes which were significantly differential expressed in endometrium induced by the embryo at ED5, and 1,346 at ED15 (p‐value < .05). Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP) was the responsive genes for embryo in the goat endometrium during estrus cycle, neurotensis (NTS) and pleiotrophin (PTN) were the responsive genes for embryo in the goat endometrium at ED5, Testin (TES) and Phosphate and Tension Homology Deleted on Chromsome ten (PTEN) at ED15. Furthermore, Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes (KEGG) analysis revealed cytoplasm and Endocytosis were indispensable for the endometrium development in dairy goat. In a word, this resulting view of the transcriptome greatly uncovered the global trends in mRNAs expression induced by the embryo in the endometrium of dairy goats.

NTS Targeted By miR-182 Modulates the Apoptosis of Goat Endometrial Epithelial Cells

Neurotensin is a tridecapeptide that functions in prenatal metabolism. It is targeted and downregulated by miR-182 through binding the seed site of miR-182 to the 3′ untranslated region and reduced by a candidate tumor suppressor, testin. Considering that apoptosis is critical in the development of mammalian preattachment embryos, this study investigated the modulation of neurotensin to the apoptosis of goat endometrial epithelial cells and apoptosis-related proteins (P38 MAPK and caspase8). Results showed that Neurotensin resisted the apoptosis of goat endometrial epithelial cells through the caspase8 pathway and activated the phosphorylation of P38 MAPK, which is involved in blastocyst formation. Thus, miR-182 is likely to promote uterus health by targeting Neurotensin and upregulating Testin.

Targeting Exosomal EBV-LMP1 Transfer and miR-203 Expression via the NF-κB Pathway: The Therapeutic Role of Aspirin in NPC

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an invasive head-and-neck tumor with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) as an important etiological cause. The EBV oncoprotein Latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1) can be trafficked into exosomes with unclear roles, and this trafficking is a potential problem in NPC control. MicroRNA-203 (miR-203) was found by us to be downregulated by LMP1, and it functions as a tumor suppressor in NPC. In this study, aspirin reversed the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) by promoting miR-203 expression in cells, and, remarkably, it repressed exosomal LMP1 (exo-LMP1) secretion from EBV-positive cells. Nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) activation was required for the exo-LMP1 production. The exo-LMP1 uptake influenced the EMT potential of EBV-negative recipient NPC cells. The exo-LMP1 level was upregulated in clinical NPC plasma samples. Aspirin treatment observably inhibited NPC lung metastasis in nude mice. The study revealed that aspirin is a promising drug for NPC therapy via its targeting of exo-LMP1 transfer and the regulatory effect of LMP1 on miR-203 expression. EBV can regulate its own tumorigenesis via the LMP1/NF-κB/exo-LMP1 axis, opening a new avenue for understanding the pathogenesis of this tumor virus. Our study also provides a rationale for the use of exo-LMP1 or exosomal miR-203 (exo-miR203) in EBV-targeted therapy by aspirin in invasive NPC.

Testin was regulated by circRNA3175-miR182 and inhibited endometrial epithelial cell apoptosis in pre-receptive endometrium of dairy goats

Circular RNAs (circRNAs) in various tissues and cell types from mammalian sources have been studied. However, present knowledge on circRNAs in the development of pre-receptive endometrium (PE) in dairy goats is limited. In the pre-receptive endometrium of dairy goats, higher circRNA3175 (ciR3175) levels, lower miR-182 levels and higher Testin (TES) levels were detected. And ciR3175 could decreased the miR-182 levels by acting as a miRNA sponge, and miR-182 could down-regulated the expression level of TES via the predicted target site in endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) in vitro. Via this way, ciR3175 functioned as a competing endogenous RNAs (ceRNA) that sequestered miR-182, thereby protecting TES transcripts from miR-182-mediated suppression in EECs in vitro. Further, TES inhibited EECs apoptosis by decreasing the expression level of BCL-2/BAX via the MAPK pathway. Thus, a ciR3175-miR182-TES pathway in the endometrium was identified in EECs, and the modulation of which could emerge as a potential target in regulating the pre-receptive endometrium development in dairy goats.

Testin is a tumor suppressor in non-small cell lung cancer

The Testin gene was previously identified in the fragile chromosomal region FRA7G at 7q31.2. It has been implicated in several types of cancers including prostate, ovarian, breast and gastric cancer. In the present study, we investigated the function of the candidate tumor-suppressor Testin gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). In NSCLC cell lines, we observed lower expression of Testin compared to that noted in normal human bronchial epithelial cells. MTT assays, flow cytometry, clonogenic assay and invasion assay showed that the overexpression of the Testin gene inhibited cancer cell proliferation, invasion and colony formation. In tumor xenograft models, Testin markedly inhibited lung cancer cell xenograft formation and growth in athymic nude mice. Taken together, these data suggest that Testin plays an important role in the development and progression of NSCLC. Testin may be an effective novel target in NSCLC prevention and treatment.