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Li X, Cong J, Zhou X, Gao W, Li W, Yang Q, Li X, Liu Z, Luo A. JunD-miR494-CUL3 axis promotes radioresistance and metastasis by facilitating EMT and restraining PD-L1 degradation in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Cancer Lett 2024; 587:216731. [PMID: 38369005 DOI: 10.1016/j.canlet.2024.216731] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2023] [Revised: 02/05/2024] [Accepted: 02/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/20/2024]
Abstract
Therapy resistance and metastatic progression jointly determine the fatal outcome of cancer, therefore, elucidating their crosstalk may provide new opportunities to improve therapeutic efficacy and prevent recurrence and metastasis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Here, we have established radioresistant ESCC cells with the remarkable metastatic capacity, and identified miR-494-3p (miR494) as a radioresistant activator. Mechanistically, we demonstrated that cullin 3 (CUL3) is a direct target of miR494, which is transcriptionally regulated by JunD, and highlighted that JunD-miR494-CUL3 axis promotes radioresistance and metastasis by facilitating epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and restraining programmed cell death 1 ligand 1 (PD-L1) degradation. In clinical specimens, miR494 is significantly up-regulated and positively associated with T stage and lymph node metastasis in ESCC tissues and serum. Notably, patients with higher serum miR494 expression have poor prognosis, and patients with higher CUL3 expression have more conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) and plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs), less cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAF2/4), and tumor endothelial cells (TEC2/3) infiltration than patients with lower CUL3 expression, suggesting that CUL3 may be involved in tumor microenvironment (TME). Overall, miR494 may serve as a potential prognostic predictor and therapeutic target, providing a promising strategy for ESCC treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Li
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Ji Cong
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Xuantong Zhou
- Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Translational Research (Ministry of Education/Beijing), Department of Thoracic Surgery II, Peking University Cancer Hospital & Institute, Beijing 100142, China
| | - Wenyan Gao
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Wenxin Li
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Qi Yang
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Xinyue Li
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China
| | - Zhihua Liu
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
| | - Aiping Luo
- State Key Lab of Molecular Oncology, National Cancer Center/National Clinical Research Center for Cancer/Cancer Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100021, China.
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