Alternative mRNA splicing generates two distinct ADAM12 prodomain variants

Methylation status of ADAM12 promoter are associated with its expression levels in colorectal cancer

BACKGROUND

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a kind of malignant tumor of digestive system severely affecting human health. The occurrence of CRC is a polygenic and multi-step complex process involving genetic and epigenetic alterations. ADAM12 (a disintegrin and metalloproteases 12), is a gene that was commonly hypermethylated in esophageal cancer using whole-genome methylation microarray in our previous study.

METHODS

We detected the methylation frequencies of the CpG island in ADAM12 promoter using bisulfite-pyrosequencing in CRC cell lines and tissue samples. The expression of ADAM12 was detected by quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC). A systematic and comprehensive analysis of relationship of DNA hypermethylation and ADAM12 expression in CRC was performed in our samples and TCGA database.

RESULTS

The expression of ADAM12 in hypermethylated cell lines was significantly lower than that in hypomethylated cell lines, and demethylation agent 5-Aza-dC could demethylate ADAM12 promoter region and reactivate ADAM12 expression effectively. In 74 pairs of colorectal cancer and normal tissues, bisulfite-pyrosequencing results showed significantly hypermethylation of ADAM12 in CRC compared with adjacent normal mucosa, accompanied with lower expression of ADAM12 in CRC tissues compared to that of the normal tissues. In addition, there was a statistically significant negative correlation between ADAM12 protein expression and methylation levels (rho =-0.28, p = 0.015).

CONCLUSION

Promoter hypermethylation was probably a mechanism of ADAM12 epigenetic silencing in CRC.

Genetic screens reveal mechanisms for the transcriptional regulation of tissue-specific genes in normal cells and tumors

The proper tissue-specific regulation of gene expression is essential for development and homeostasis in metazoans. However, the illegitimate expression of normally tissue-restricted genes—like testis- or placenta-specific genes—is frequently observed in tumors; this promotes transformation, but also allows immunotherapy. Two important questions are: how is the expression of these genes controlled in healthy cells? And how is this altered in cancer? To address these questions, we used an unbiased approach to test the ability of 350 distinct genetic or epigenetic perturbations to induce the illegitimate expression of over 40 tissue-restricted genes in primary human cells. We find that almost all of these genes are remarkably resistant to reactivation by a single alteration in signaling pathways or chromatin regulation. However, a few genes differ and are more readily activated; one is the placenta-expressed gene ADAM12, which promotes invasion. Using cellular systems, an animal model, and bioinformatics, we find that a non-canonical but druggable TGF-β/KAT2A/TAK1 axis controls ADAM12 induction in normal and cancer cells. More broadly, our data show that illegitimate gene expression in cancer is an heterogeneous phenomenon, with a few genes activatable by simple events, and most genes likely requiring a combination of events to become reactivated.

Brown Seaweed Fucoidan Inhibits Cancer Progression by Dual Regulation of mir-29c/ADAM12 and miR-17-5p/PTEN Axes in Human Breast Cancer Cells

In this study, we observed that brown seaweed fucoidan inhibited human breast cancer progression by upregulating microRNA (miR)-29c and downregulating miR-17-5p, thereby suppressing their target genes, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 12 (ADAM12) and phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN), respectively. Moreover, fucoidan reduced the luciferase activity of 3'-untranslated region reporter; treatment of cells with the miR-29c mimic or miR-17-5p inhibitor also produced similar results. These effects of fucoidan inhibited the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer cells, as evidenced by an increase in E-cadherin and a drop in N-cadherin, and inhibited breast cancer cell survival, as evidenced by the activation of the phosphoinositide 3-kinase/Akt pathway. Taken together, these findings demonstrate that fucoidan inhibits breast cancer progression by regulating the miR-29c/ADAM12 and miR-17-5p/PTEN axes. Fucoidan is a potential chemopreventive/chemotherapeutic agent for breast cancer.

Quantitative proteomics identifies myoferlin as a novel regulator of A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 12 in HeLa cells

A Disintegrin and Metalloproteinase 12 (ADAM12) is expressed significantly higher in multiple tumors than in normal tissues and has been used as a prognostic marker for the evaluation of cancer progression. Although several ADAM12 substrates have been identified biochemically and its proteolytic function has been explored, the upstream regulators and the interacting proteins have not been systematically investigated. Here, we use immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry (MS)-based quantitative proteomic approaches to identify 28 interacting partners for the long form of ADAM12 (ADAM12-L) in HeLa cells. Proteins that regulate cell proliferation, invasion, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition are among the identified ADAM12-interacting proteins. Further biochemical experiments discover that the protein level and the stability of ADAM12 are upregulated by one of its interacting proteins, myoferlin. In addition, myoferlin also increases the proteolytic activity of ADAM12, leading to the reduction of an ADAM12 substrate, E-cadherin. This result implies that ADAM12 and its interacting proteins might converge to certain signaling pathways in the regulation of cancer cell progression. The information obtained here might be useful in the development of new strategies for modulating cell proliferation and invasion involved in the regulation between ADAM12 and its interacting partners. MS data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD003560.

BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE

Regulation of the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells is important in cancer treatment. ADAM12 has been found to play important roles in regulating these processes and identification of its interacting partners will improve our understanding of its biological functions and provide basis for functional modulation. Through mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomic approaches, we identify the interacting partners for ADAM12 in a human cancer cell line and find many proteins that are involved in the proliferation and invasion of cancer cells. A novel regulator, myoferlin, of ADAM12 is discovered and this protein increases ADAM12 expression level, stability, and its enzymatic activity, leading to the reduction of its substrate, E-cadherin, which plays important roles in the regulation of cell adhesion and tumor metastasis. This result provides a connection for two highly expressed proteins in cancer cells and may shed light on the regulation of their biological functions in cancer progression.

ADAM12-L is a direct target of the miR-29 and miR-200 families in breast cancer

Background

ADAM12-L and ADAM12-S represent two major splice variants of human metalloproteinase-disintegrin 12 mRNA, which differ in their 3′-untranslated regions (3′UTRs). ADAM12-L, but not ADAM12-S, has prognostic and chemopredictive values in breast cancer. Expression levels of the two ADAM12 splice variants in clinical samples are highly discordant, suggesting post-transcriptional regulation of the ADAM12 gene. The miR-29, miR-30, and miR-200 families have potential target sites in the ADAM12-L 3′UTR and they may negatively regulate ADAM12-L expression.

Methods

miR-29b/c, miR-30b/d, miR-200b/c, or control miRNA mimics were transfected into SUM159PT, BT549, SUM1315MO2, or Hs578T breast cancer cells. ADAM12-L and ADAM12-S mRNA levels were measured by qRT-PCR, and ADAM12-L protein was detected by Western blotting. Direct targeting of the ADAM12-L 3′UTR by miRNAs was tested using an ADAM12-L 3′UTR luciferase reporter. The rate of ADAM12-L translation was evaluated by metabolic labeling of cells with ³⁵S cysteine/methionine. The roles of endogenous miR-29b and miR-200c were tested by transfecting cells with miRNA hairpin inhibitors.

Results

Transfection of miR-29b/c mimics strongly decreased ADAM12-L mRNA levels in SUM159PT and BT549 cells, whereas ADAM12-S levels were not changed. ADAM12-L, but not ADAM12-S, levels were also significantly diminished by miR-200b/c in SUM1315MO2 cells. In Hs578T cells, miR-200b/c mimics impeded translation of ADAM12-L mRNA. Importantly, both miR-29b/c and miR-200b/c strongly decreased steady state levels of ADAM12-L protein in all breast cancer cell lines tested. miR-29b/c and miR-200b/c also significantly decreased the activity of an ADAM12-L 3′UTR reporter, and this effect was abolished when miR-29b/c and miR-200b/c target sequences were mutated. In contrast, miR-30b/d did not elicit consistent and significant effects on ADAM12-L expression. Analysis of a publicly available gene expression dataset for 100 breast tumors revealed a statistically significant negative correlation between ADAM12-L and both miR-29b and miR-200c. Inhibition of endogenous miR-29b and miR-200c in SUM149PT and SUM102PT cells led to increased ADAM12-L expression.

Conclusions

The ADAM12-L 3′UTR is a direct target of miR-29 and miR-200 family members. Since the miR-29 and miR-200 families play important roles in breast cancer progression, these results may help explain the different prognostic and chemopredictive values of ADAM12-L and ADAM12-S in breast cancer.