Proline-rich protein 11 overexpression is associated with a more aggressive phenotype and poor overall survival in ovarian cancer patients

Mutant p53 achieves function by regulating EGR1 to induce epithelial mesenchymal transition

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a crucial role in lung cancer metastasis, rendering it a promising therapeutic target. Research has shown that non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with p53 mutations exhibits an increased tendency for cancer metastasis. However, the exact contribution of the p53-R273H mutation to tumor metastasis remains uncertain in the current literature. Our study established the H1299-p53-R273H cell model successfully by transfecting the p53-R273H plasmid into H1299 cells. We observed that p53-R273H promotes cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and EMT through CCK-8, wound healing, transwell, western blot and immunofluorescence assays. Notably, the expression of EGR1 was increased in H1299-p53-R273H cells. Knocking out EGR1 in these cells hindered the progression of EMT. ChIP-PCR experiments revealed that p53-R273H binds to the EGR1 promoter sequence, thereby regulating its expression. These findings suggest that p53-R273H triggers EMT by activating EGR1, thereby offering a potential therapeutic approach for lung cancer treatment.

Proline-rich 11 (PRR11) promotes the progression of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma by activating the EGFR signaling pathway

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) is one of the most common skin malignancies, and its incidence rate is increasing worldwide. Proline-rich 11 (PRR11) has been reported to be involved in the occurrence and development of various tumors. However, the role of PRR11 in cSCC remains unknown. In the present study, we observed upregulated expression of PRR11 in cSCC tissues and cell lines. Knockdown of PRR11 in the cSCC cell lines A431 and SCL-1 inhibited cell proliferation by inducing cell cycle arrest during the G1/S phase transition, promoted cell apoptosis, and reduced cell migration and invasion in vitro. Conversely, overexpression of PRR11 promoted cell proliferation, decreased cell apoptosis, and enhanced cell migration and invasion. PRR11 knockdown also inhibited cSCC tumor growth in a mouse xenograft model. Mechanistic investigations by RNA sequencing revealed that 891 genes were differentially expressed genes between cells with PRR11 knockdown and control cells. Enrichment analysis of different genes showed that the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway was the top enriched pathway. We further validated that PRR11 induced EGFR pathway activity, which contributed to cSCC progression. These data suggest that PRR11 may serve as a novel therapeutic target in cSCC.

PRR11 in Malignancies: Biological Activities and Targeted Therapies

Proline rich 11 (PRR11), initially renowned for its relevance with cell-cycle progression, is a proline-rich protein coding gene in chromosome 17q22-23. Currently, accumulating studies have demonstrated that PRR11 plays a critical role in cellular proliferation, colony formation, migration, invasion, cell-cycle progression, apoptosis, autophagy and chemotherapy resistance via multiple signaling pathways and biological molecules in several solid tumors. In particular, PRR11 also serves as a promising prognostic indicator in a limited number of human cancers, gradually manifesting its potential application for targeted therapies. In this review, we summarize functional activities, related signaling pathways and biological molecules of PRR11 in various malignancies and generalize potential application of PRR11 for targeted therapies, thereby contributing to further exploration of PRR11 in cancer treatment.

Differential roles of the Wip1-p38-p53 DNA damage response pathway in early/advanced-stage ovarian clear cell carcinomas

Background

Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is one of the most lethal types of ovarian cancer. Early-stage OCCC can be cured by surgery; however, advanced-stage disease shows poor prognosis due to chemoresistance unlike the more common high-grade serous carcinoma.

Methods

We explored the differential roles of the Wip1–p38–p53 DNA damage response pathway in respective early- or advanced-stage OCCC by immunohistochemistry of Wip1, phospho-p38, p53, and phospho-p53 from consecutive 143 patients.

Results

High Wip1 expression correlated with positive p53 (p=0.011), which in turn correlated with low nuclear phospho-p38 expression (p=0.0094). In the early stages, positive p53 showed trends toward worse overall survival (OS) (p=0.062), whereas in the advanced stages, high Wip1 correlated with worse OS (p=0.0012). The univariate and multivariate analyses of prognostic factors indicated that high Wip1 was significant and independent for worse OS (p=0.011) in the advanced stages, but not in the early stages. Additionally, high Wip1 showed trends toward shorter treatment-free interval (TFI) in the advanced stages, but not in the early stages (p=0.083 vs. 0.93). Furthermore, high Wip1 was significantly associated with positive p53 only in the patients with shorter TFI (<6 months), but not in those with longer TFI (≥6 months) (p=0.036 vs. 0.34).

Conclusions

Wip1 appears to play a crucial role for the prognosis of OCCC through chemoresistance specifically in the advanced stages, implicating that Wip1 possibly serves as a reasonable therapeutic target for improving chemoresistance and poor prognosis of advanced-stage OCCC.