Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor-1 (UTF1) inhibits the growth of cervical cancer cells by transactivating p27Kip1

Molecular study of the proliferation process of beta cells derived from pluripotent stem cells

BACKGROUND

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a chronic metabolic disorder, increasing in the number of patients and poses a severe threat to human health. Significant advances have been made in DM treatment; the most important of which is differentiation and proliferation of beta cells from IPSCs.

METHODS

Data were collected from PUBMED at various time points up to the academic year of 2020. The related keywords are listed as follows: "Induced pluripotent stem cell", "Proliferation", "Growth factor", "Small molecule", "cardiotoxicity" and "Scaffold."

RESULT

The use of growth factors along with small molecules can be a good strategy for beta-cell proliferation. Also, proliferation of beta cells on nanofibers scaffolds can create a similar in vivo environment, that leads to increased function of beta-cell. Some transcription factors that cause beta cells proliferation play an important role in inflammation; so, it is essential to monitor them to prevent inflammation.

CONCLUSION

Finally, the simultaneous use of growth factors, micronutrients and scaffolds can be an excellent strategy to increase the proliferation and function of beta cells derived from IPSCs.

MicroRNA-148a-3p inhibits the proliferation of cervical cancer cells by regulating the expression levels of DNMT1 and UTF1

MicroRNAs (miRs) serve a key role in carcinogenesis. miR-148a-3p has been demonstrated to act as a tumor suppressor in several tumors, such as epithelial ovarian cancer and esophageal cancer. However, to the best of our knowledge, the role of miR-148a-3p in cervical cancer remains unclear. In the present study, the expression levels of miR-148a-3p measured by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR were significantly decreased in cervical cancer tissues compared with that in normal cervical tissues. Furthermore, overexpression of miR-148a-3p markedly suppressed the proliferation of cervical cancer cells. The luciferase reporter assay demonstrated that DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) was the target gene of miR-148a-3p and that its expression measured by western blotting was inhibited by miR-148a-3p in cervical cancer cells. Correlation analysis highlighted that the expression levels of the undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor-1 (UTF1) were negatively associated with the expression levels of DNMT1 in cervical cancer tissues. Furthermore, DNMT1 knockdown increased the expression of UTF1 and decreased the methylation level of UTF1 promoter. These data demonstrated the expression levels of UTF1 were regulated by DNMT1 methylation in cervical cancer cells. Collectively, the results of the present study suggested that miR-148a-3p may inhibit the proliferation of cervical cancer cells by regulating the expression levels of DNMT1/UTF1, which provides potential therapeutic targets for cervical cancer.

An Insight into the Role of UTF1 in Development, Stem Cells, and Cancer

The curiosity to understand the mechanisms regulating transcription in pluripotent cells resulted in identifying a unique transcription factor named Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1). This proline-rich, nuclear protein is highly conserved among placental mammals with prominent expression observed in pluripotent, germ, and cancer cells. In pluripotent and germ cells, its role has been implicated primarily in proper cell differentiation, whereas in cancer, it shows tissue-specific function, either as an oncogene or a tumor suppressor gene. Furthermore, UTF1 is crucial for germ cell development, spermatogenesis, and maintaining male fertility in mice. In addition, recent studies have demonstrated the importance of UTF1 in the generation of high quality induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) and as an excellent biomarker to identify bona fide iPSCs. Functionally, UTF1 aids in establishing a favorable chromatin state in embryonic stem cells, reducing "transcriptional noise" and possibly functions similarly in re-establishing this state in differentiated cells upon their reprogramming to generate mature iPSCs. This review highlights the multifaceted roles of UTF1 and its implication in development, spermatogenesis, stem, and cancer cells.

NF-YA promotes the cell proliferation and tumorigenic properties by transcriptional activation of SOX2 in cervical cancer

NF‐YA is considered as a crucial regulator for the maintenance of cancer stem cell (CSC) and involved in various types of malignant tumours. However, the exact function and molecular mechanisms of NF‐YA in the progression of cervical cancer remains poorly understood. Here, the expression of NF‐YA detected by immunohistochemistry was gradually increased from normal cervical tissues, to the high‐grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, and then to cervical cancer tissues. NF‐YA promoted the cell proliferation and tumorigenic properties of cervical cancer cells as well as tumorsphere formation and chemoresistance in vitro. The luciferase reporter assay combined with mutagenesis analyses and Western blotting showed that NF‐YA trans‐activated the expression of SOX2 in cervical cancer. Furthermore, quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation (qChIP) and electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) confirmed that NF‐YA protein directly bound to the CCAAT box region located upstream of the SOX2 promoter. Together, our data demonstrated that NF‐YA was highly expressed in cervical cancer and promoted the cell proliferation, tumorigenicity and CSC characteristic by trans‐activating the expression of SOX2.

SALL4 promotes the tumorigenicity of cervical cancer cells through activation of the Wnt/β-catenin pathway via CTNNB1

SALL4 is overexpressed in many cancers and is found to be involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. However, the function of SALL4 in cervical cancer remains unknown. Here, we showed that the expression of SALL4 was gradually increased from normal cervical tissue to high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions and then to squamous cervical carcinoma. SALL4 was upregulated or downregulated in cervical cancer cells by stably transfecting a SALL4-expressing plasmid or a shRNA plasmid targeting SALL4, respectively. In vitro, cell growth curves and MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assays showed that SALL4 promoted the cell proliferation of cervical cancer cells. In vivo, xenograft experiments verified that SALL4 enhanced the tumor formation of cervical cancer cells in female BALB/c Nude mice. Cell cycle analysis by fluorescence-activated cell sorting found that SALL4 accelerates cell cycle transition from the G0 /G1 phase to the S phase. TOP/FOP-Flash reporter assay revealed that SALL4 significantly upregulates the activity of Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Western blotting showed that the expression levels of β-catenin and important downstream genes, including c-Myc and cyclin D1, were increased by SALL4 in cervical cancer cells. Furthermore, dual-luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays confirmed that SALL4 transcriptionally activated CTNNB1 by physically interacting with its promoters. Taken together, The results of this study demonstrated that SALL4 may promote cell proliferation and tumor formation of cervical cancer cells by upregulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway by directly binding to the CTNNB1 promoter and trans-activating CTNNB1.

Potential role of cancer stem cells as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in cervical cancer

BACKGROUND

Eradicating cancer stem cells (CSCs) that are termed as the "beating heart" of various malignant tumors, including cervical cancer, holds great importance in cancer therapeutics. CSCs not only confer chemo-radio resistance but also play an important role in tumor metastasis and thereby pose a potential barrier for the cure of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer, a common malignancy among females, is associated with high morbidity and mortality rates, and the study on CSCs residing in the niche is promising.

RECENT FINDINGS

Biomarker approach to screen the cervical CSCs has gained impetus since the past decade. Progress in identification and characterization of the stem cell biomarkers has led to many insights. For the diagnostic purpose, several biomarkers like viral (HPV16), stem cell markers, transcription factors (viz, SOX2, OCT 4, and c-Myc), and CSC surface markers (viz, ALDH1 and CD44) have been identified. The research so far has been directed to study the CSC stemness and demonstrates various gene expression signatures in cervical CSCs. Such studies hold a potential to improve diagnostic accuracy and predict therapeutic response and clinical outcome in patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Stem cell biomarkers have been validated and their therapeutic targets are being developed as "strategies to improve therapeutic ratio in personalized medicine." This review gives a brief overview of the cervical CSC biomarkers, their current and future diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic potential.

SOX17 restrains proliferation and tumor formation by down-regulating activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway via trans-suppressing β-catenin in cervical cancer

The SRY-box containing gene 17 (SOX17) is considered as a regulator in stemness maintenance and a suppressor in some malignant tumors. However, the biological function and molecular mechanism of SOX17 in the process of initiation and progression of cervical cancer remain obscure. In this study, immunohistochemistry showed that the expression of SOX17 was high in the normal cervix, moderate in the high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion, and low in the cervical cancer. SOX17 inhibited the proliferation and viability of cervical cancer cells in vitro as well as tumor formation in vivo. Additionally, SOX17 induced the cell cycle arrest at the transition from the G₀/G₁ phase to the S phase. The TOP/ FOP-Flash reporter assay and Western blotting showed SOX17 inhibited the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in cervical cancer. Further, firefly luciferase reporter assay and quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation (qChIP) assays confirmed that SOX17 trans-suppressed the expression of β-catenin by directly binding to the specific region of the β-catenin promoter. Together, our data demonstrated that SOX17 restrained the proliferation and tumor formation by down-regulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway via trans-suppression of β-catenin in cervical cancer.

Slug inhibits the proliferation and tumor formation of human cervical cancer cells by up-regulating the p21/p27 proteins and down-regulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway via the trans-suppression Akt1/p-Akt1 expression

Slug (Snai2) has been demonstrated to act as an oncogene or tumor suppressor in different human cancers, but the function of Slug in cervical cancer remains poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrated that Slug could suppress the proliferation of cervical cancer cells in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. Further experiments found that Slug could trans-suppress the expression of Akt1/p-Akt1 by binding to E-box motifs in the promoter of the Akt1 gene and then inhibit the cell proliferation and tumor formation of cervical cancer cells by up-regulating p21/p27 and/or down-regulating the activity of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Therefore, Slug acts as a tumor suppressor during cervical carcinogenesis.

The relationship between cervical precancerous lesion galectin-3 and p27 protein expression and clinical prognosis

The relationship between galectin-3 and p27^kip1 protein expression levels in cervical precancerous lesions and clinical prognosis were studied. A total of 74 patients with cervical intraepithelial neoplasia [(CIN), 20 cases classified as stage I, 24 cases as stage II and 30 cases as stage III] were enrolled in this study. Tissue galectin-3, p27^kip1, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-2 and cyclin D protein levels were detected via immunohistochemical staining and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Follow-up median duration was 13.5 months and recurrence rate was determined. Galectin-3, VEGF-2, and cyclin D expression was elevated in patients with higher stage CIN, whereas p27^kip1 showed the opposite trend (p<0.05). During follow-up, there were 3 cases (15.0%) of recurrence in the CIN-I group, 5 cases (20.8%) in the CIN-II group and 9 cases (30.0%) in CIN-III the group. No significant difference in recurrence rate was noted among the groups (p>0.05). The upregulation of galectin-3 and downregulation of p27^kip1 in CIN tissues may be related to tumor progression. This phenomenon will require further verification.

Tafazzin (TAZ) promotes the tumorigenicity of cervical cancer cells and inhibits apoptosis

Tafazzin (TAZ) is often aberrantly expressed in some cancers, including rectal cancer and thyroid neoplasms. However, the function of TAZ in cervical cancer cells remains unknown. This study aims to explore the expression and function of TAZ in cervical cancer cells. Here, we determined the expression of TAZ protein in normal cervical tissue (NC, n = 27), high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL, n = 26) and squamous cervical carcinoma (SCC, n = 41) by immunohistochemistry, the expression of TAZ protein gradually increased from NC to HSIL to SCC. TAZ was overexpressed or down-regulated in cervical cancer cells by stably transfecting a TAZ-expressing plasmid or a shRNA plasmid targeting TAZ. In vitro, the cell growth curves and MTT assays showed that TAZ may promote the growth and viability of cervical cancer cells. In vivo, xenografts experiment showed that TAZ may increase tumor-forming ability. The percentage of apoptosis cells analyzed by FACS and TUNEL assays consistently showed that TAZ inhibits apoptosis in cervical cancer cells. Furthermore, the Cleaved Caspase 9 and Cleaved Caspase 3 were down-regulated by TAZ in cervical cancer cells. Taken together, this study demonstrated that TAZ is overexpressed in cervical cancer and may promote tumorigenicity of cervical cancer cells and inhibit apoptosis.

SOX9, a potential tumor suppressor in cervical cancer, transactivates p21WAF1/CIP1 and suppresses cervical tumor growth

Sex-determining region Y-box 9 protein (SOX9) is a transcription factor that may act as both oncogene and tumor suppressor depending on tumor origin. Here we found that SOX9 expression was progressively decreased in cervical carcinoma in situ and especially in invasive cervical carcinoma, compared with normal cervix tissue. The effects of SOX9 on the proliferation, viability, and tumor formation of cervical carcinoma cells were assessed through the silencing and overexpression of SOX9. Overexpression of SOX9 in cervical carcinoma cells (SiHa and C33A) inhibited cell growth in vitro and tumor formation in vivo. In agreement, the silencing of SOX9 in HeLa cells promoted cell growth in culture and tumor formation in mice. Overexpression of SOX9 transactivated p21^WAF1/CIP1 via a specific promoter region, thus blocking G1/S transition. The quantitative chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis revealed physical interaction between SOX9 and the specific region of the p21^WAF1/CIP1 promoter. We suggest that SOX9 is a potential therapeutic target in cervical carcinoma, that specifically transactivates p21^WAF1/CIP1.

Msi1 promotes tumor growth and cell proliferation by targeting cell cycle checkpoint proteins p21, p27 and p53 in cervical carcinomas

Musashi RNA-binding protein1 (Msi1), a member of the RNA-binding protein family, has been reported to be a diagnostic marker and potential therapeutic target in some cancers, its function in cervical cancer remains unknown. In this study, we found Msi1 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues, and over-expressing Msi1 in cervical cancer cells enhanced tumor formation and cell proliferation and accelerated cells into the S phase. Whereas, down-regulating Msi1 by shRNA in cervical cancer cells inhibited tumor formation and cell proliferation and slowed cell into the S phase, suggesting that Msi1 might act as cell cycle regulator. Immunohistochemistry assay showed the negative correlation between Msi1 and p21, p27 and p53, suggesting that Msi1 might regulate these cycle regulators in cervical cancer. Moreover, the expression of the p21, p27 and p53 proteins were down-regulated in Msi1 overexpressing cervical cancer cells and up-regulated in shMsi1 cervical cancer cells. Luciferase assays and RNA-protein binding assays confirmed that Msi1 could bind to the mRNA 3′UTRs of p21, p27 and p53 and suppress the translation of these proteins. Our findings provide new evidence that Msi1 might promote cell proliferation by accelerating the cell cycle by directly targeting p21, p27 and p53.

Cervical cancer stem cells: opportunities and challenges

INTRODUCTION

Cervical cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in spite of screening and vaccination programs. The current treatment strategies including chemotherapy and surgery could only prolong the patient's survival rather than provide a permanent cure. In case of advanced cervical cancer, radical surgery remains the only option which not only affects the child-bearing ability of the patient, but also comes with a continual risk of recurrence of the disease. Hence, there is a need to develop innovative therapeutics. The cancer stem cell hypothesis states that a tumor has a hierarchical cellular structure in which only a small subpopulation, referred to as cancer stem cells (CSCs), is capable of tumorigenesis. The CSCs possess the stem-like properties of self-renewal and can differentiate into non-stem tumor cells.

RESULTS

A large number of studies suggest that CSCs are resistant to the conventional therapies used for cancer treatment. These therapies rather enrich the proportion of CSCs in the tumor by eliminating non-stem tumor cells, thereby causing enhanced drug resistance resulting in relapse of the disease. This makes CSCs as the most likely targets for therapeutic intervention. Also, the increase in the proportion of CSCs in patient samples is associated with poor survival rate, thus highlighting their potential role as prognostic biomarker.

CONCLUSION

The CSCs have been identified and characterized in cervical cancer cell lines, but there are hardly any reports of CSCs in cervical cancer patient samples. This review highlights the current status of research on cervical CSCs, their clinical significance and the challenges in the field.

Expression of undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor-1 (UTF1) in breast cancers and their matched normal tissues

Objectives

Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor-1 (UTF1) plays a critical role in the developmental timing during embryonic development. However, there is little paper dealing with UTF1 expressed in adult tissues. In the present study, we evaluate the expression of UTF1 in breast cancer and its correlation with clinicopathological parameters.

Methods

Real-time polymerase chain reaction (real-time PCR) was applied to detect the expression of UTF1 mRNA in the 55 pairs of samples of breast cancer tissues and match normal tissues. △△CT method was used to evaluate the relative quantity of target mRNA expression.

Results

Among the 55 pairs of samples of breast cancer tissues and match normal tissues adjacent to the tumor, the UTF1 mRNA levels in normal tissues were significantly higher than those observed in breast cancer tissues (p < 0.001). UTF1 mRNA levels expression correlated with lymph node metastasis (p = 0.002) and tumor size (p < 0.001).

Conclusions

Expression of UTF1 in breast cancer tissues were confirmed in this study. Decreased expression of UTF1 mRNA in breast cancer tissues was maybe one of the factors impact on tumorigenes in breast cancer patients.

MicroRNA-196a promotes cervical cancer proliferation through the regulation of FOXO1 and p27Kip1

Background:

The phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt signalling pathway appears to be a key regulator in cervical carcinogenesis. However, the downstream regulatory mechanism of PI3K/Akt signalling remains largely unknown.

Methods:

The expression of miR-196a in cervical cancer cell lines and cervical cancer tissues was examined using real-time PCR. The effects of miR-196a on PI3K/Akt signalling and cellular proliferation were evaluated by bromodeoxyuridine labelling, 3-(4,5-Dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2H-tetrazoliumbromide, colony formation assays and luciferase assays.

Results:

The expression level of miR-196a was markedly increased in cervical cancer tissues and cell lines compared with normal cervical tissue and normal cervical squamous cells. Upregulation of miR-196a was correlated with advanced tumour stage and poor overall and recurrence-free survival in cervical cancer patients. Upregulation of miR-196a enhanced G1/S-phase transition and the proliferative ability of cervical cancer cells, whereas suppression of miR-196a had the opposite effect. Using bioinformatics and biological approaches, we showed that FOXO1 and p27^Kip1, two key effectors of PI3K/Akt signalling, were direct targets of miR-196a.

Conclusions:

Our findings suggest that miR-196a has an important role in promoting human cervical cancer cell proliferation and may represent a novel therapeutic target of microRNA-mediated suppression of cell proliferation in cervical cancer.

Embryonic stem cell-specific signature in cervical cancer

The wide range of invasive and noninvasive lesion phenotypes associated with high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infection in cervical cancer (CC) indicates that not only the virus but also specific cervical epithelial cells in the transformation zone (TZ), such as stem cells (SCs), play an important part in the development of cervical neoplasia. In this review, we focused in an expression signature that is specific to embryonic SCs and to poorly differentiated cervical malignant tumors and we hypothesize that this expression signature may play an important role to promote cell growth, survival, colony formation, lack of adhesion, as well as cell invasion and migration in CC.