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Pua LJW, Mai CW, Chung FFL, Khoo ASB, Leong CO, Lim WM, Hii LW. Functional Roles of JNK and p38 MAPK Signaling in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 23:ijms23031108. [PMID: 35163030 PMCID: PMC8834850 DOI: 10.3390/ijms23031108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2021] [Revised: 01/11/2022] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) family members integrate signals that affect proliferation, differentiation, survival, and migration in a cell context- and cell type-specific way. JNK and p38 MAPK activities are found upregulated in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Studies have shown that activation of JNK and p38 MAPK signaling can promote NPC oncogenesis by mechanisms within the cancer cells and interactions with the tumor microenvironment. They regulate multiple transcription activities and contribute to tumor-promoting processes, ranging from cell proliferation to apoptosis, inflammation, metastasis, and angiogenesis. Current literature suggests that JNK and p38 MAPK activation may exert pro-tumorigenic functions in NPC, though the underlying mechanisms are not well documented and have yet to be fully explored. Here, we aim to provide a narrative review of JNK and p38 MAPK pathways in human cancers with a primary focus on NPC. We also discuss the potential therapeutic agents that could be used to target JNK and p38 MAPK signaling in NPC, along with perspectives for future works. We aim to inspire future studies further delineating JNK and p38 MAPK signaling in NPC oncogenesis which might offer important insights for better strategies in diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment decision-making in NPC patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lesley Jia Wei Pua
- School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (L.J.W.P.); (C.-O.L.)
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
| | - Chun-Wai Mai
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
| | - Felicia Fei-Lei Chung
- Department of Medical Sciences, School of Medical and Life Sciences, Sunway University, Bandar Sunway 47500, Malaysia;
| | - Alan Soo-Beng Khoo
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
| | - Chee-Onn Leong
- School of Postgraduate Studies, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (L.J.W.P.); (C.-O.L.)
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
- AGTC Genomics, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
| | - Wei-Meng Lim
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
- Correspondence: (W.-M.L.); (L.-W.H.)
| | - Ling-Wei Hii
- Center for Cancer and Stem Cell Research, Development and Innovation (IRDI), Institute for Research, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia; (C.-W.M.); (A.S.-B.K.)
- School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur 57000, Malaysia
- Correspondence: (W.-M.L.); (L.-W.H.)
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Viana BPPB, Gomes AVP, Gimba ERP, Ferreira LB. Osteopontin Expression in Thyroid Cancer: Deciphering EMT-Related Molecular Mechanisms. Biomedicines 2021; 9:biomedicines9101372. [PMID: 34680488 PMCID: PMC8533224 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines9101372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 09/24/2021] [Accepted: 09/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Thyroid cancer is the most common tumor arising from the endocrine system and generally presents good prognosis. However, its aggressive subtypes are related to therapeutic resistance and early metastasis. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and its reverse process, the mesenchymal–epithelial transition (MET), are key events mediating cancer progression, including in thyroid cancer. The matricellular protein osteopontin (OPN) has been reported as a master regulator of EMT in many tumor types. Although high OPN expression has been described and associated with important aspects of thyroid cancer progression, there is no clear evidence regarding OPN as a regulator of EMT in thyroid cancer. Thus, taking together the known roles of OPN in the modulation of EMT in cancer and the information reporting the expression of OPN in thyroid tumor progression, this review aims at summarizing and discussing data related to EMT in thyroid cancer and its putative relation to the roles of OPN in the development of thyroid cancer. These data provide new insights into the molecular mechanisms by which OPN could potentially modulate EMT in thyroid tumors, generating evidence for future studies that may contribute to new therapeutic, prognostic and/or diagnostic tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bruna Prunes Pena Baroni Viana
- Grupo de Hemato-Oncologia Molecular, Coordenação de Pesquisa, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Praça da Cruz Vermelha, 23, 6° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20230-130, CEP, Brazil; (B.P.P.B.V.); (A.V.P.G.)
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Oncologia, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rua André Cavalcanti, 37, 3° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20231-050, CEP, Brazil
| | - Amanda Vitória Pampolha Gomes
- Grupo de Hemato-Oncologia Molecular, Coordenação de Pesquisa, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Praça da Cruz Vermelha, 23, 6° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20230-130, CEP, Brazil; (B.P.P.B.V.); (A.V.P.G.)
- Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Instituto Biomédico, Universidade Federal do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, Rua Frei Caneca, 94, Rio de Janeiro 20211-010, CEP, Brazil
| | - Etel Rodrigues Pereira Gimba
- Grupo de Hemato-Oncologia Molecular, Coordenação de Pesquisa, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Praça da Cruz Vermelha, 23, 6° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20230-130, CEP, Brazil; (B.P.P.B.V.); (A.V.P.G.)
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Oncologia, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rua André Cavalcanti, 37, 3° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20231-050, CEP, Brazil
- Departamento de Ciências da Natureza, Universidade Federal Fluminense, Rua Recife 1-7, Bela Vista, Rio das Ostras 28880-000, CEP, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Biomédicas, Fisiologia e Farmacologia, Instituto Biomédico, Av. Prof. Hernani Melo, 101, Niterói 24210-130, CEP, Brazil
- Correspondence: (E.R.P.G.); (L.B.F.)
| | - Luciana Bueno Ferreira
- Grupo de Hemato-Oncologia Molecular, Coordenação de Pesquisa, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Praça da Cruz Vermelha, 23, 6° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20230-130, CEP, Brazil; (B.P.P.B.V.); (A.V.P.G.)
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Stricto Sensu em Oncologia, Instituto Nacional de Câncer, Rua André Cavalcanti, 37, 3° andar, Rio de Janeiro 20231-050, CEP, Brazil
- Correspondence: (E.R.P.G.); (L.B.F.)
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Cui D, Zhao Y, Xu J. Activation of CXCL5-CXCR2 axis promotes proliferation and accelerates G1 to S phase transition of papillary thyroid carcinoma cells and activates JNK and p38 pathways. Cancer Biol Ther 2018; 20:608-616. [PMID: 30404567 DOI: 10.1080/15384047.2018.1539289] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023] Open
Abstract
C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CXCL5) is initially identified to recruit neutrophils by interacting with its receptor, C-X-C motif chemokine receptor 2 (CXCR2). Our prior work demonstrated that the expression levels of CXCL5 and CXCR2 were higher in the papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) tumors than that in the non-tumors. This study was performed to further investigate how this axis regulates the growth of PTC cells. B-CPAP cells (BRAFV600E) and TPC-1 cells (RET/PTC rearrangement) expressing CXCR-2 were used as in vitro cell models. Our results showed that the recombinant human CXCL5 (rhCXCL5) promoted the proliferation of PTC cells. rhCXCL5 accelerated the G1/S transition, upregulated the expression of a group of S (DNA synthesis) or M (mitosis)-promoting cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs), and downregulated CDK inhibitors in PTC cells. The CDS region of homo sapiens CXCL5 gene was inserted into an eukaryotic expression vector to mediate the overexpression of CXCL5 in PTC cells. The phosphorylation of c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p38, and the nuclear translocation of c-Jun were enhanced by CXCL5 overexpression, whereas attenuated by CXCR2 antagonist SB225002. Additionally, CXCL5/CXCR2 axis, JNK and p38 pathway inhibitors, SB225002, SP600125 and SB203580, suppressed the growth of PTC cells overexpressing CXCL5 in nude mice, respectively. Collectively, our study demonstrates a growth-promoting effect of CXCL5-CXCR2 axis in PTC cells in vitro and in vivo.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Cui
- a Department of Thyroid Surgery , The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University , Dalian , People's Republic of China
| | - Yongfu Zhao
- a Department of Thyroid Surgery , The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University , Dalian , People's Republic of China
| | - Jingchao Xu
- a Department of Thyroid Surgery , The Second Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University , Dalian , People's Republic of China
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Song Q, Wang G, Chu Y, Zhou L, Jiang M, He Q, Liu M, Qin J, Hu J. TNF-α up-regulates cellular inhibitor of apoptosis protein 2 (c-IAP2) via c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) pathway in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Int Immunopharmacol 2013; 16:148-53. [PMID: 23597429 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2013.03.034] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2013] [Revised: 03/27/2013] [Accepted: 03/27/2013] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
Abstract
Inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (IAPs) contribute to both tumor progression and tumor metastasis. Here, we show that pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF-α induced the up-regulation of c-IAP2 in the potential metastatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells in a dose- and time-dependent manner. This up-regulation is tolerant, as the pre-treatment of NPC cells with TNF-α reversed the up-regulation of c-IAP2 induced by TNF-α re-stimulation. TNF-α activated MAKP signals, including ERK, JNK and p38, and NF-κB signal, but only inhibition of JNK signal transduction reversed the induction of c-IAP2, suggesting that JNK signaling contributed to the c-IAP2 induction. The results from in vitro scratch wound-healing assays showed that TNF-α promoted cell invasion, which was reversed by the inhibition of JNK signaling. Taken together, these studies suggested that pro-inflammation cytokine TNF-α may be a promoter for NPC metastasis, and the anti-inflammatory therapy may be of benefit to the prevention of NPC metastasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qibin Song
- Cancer Center, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan 430060, China
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