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Zhu W, Wu C, Liu Z, Zhao S, Huang J. OTU deubiquitinase, ubiquitin aldehyde binding 2 (OTUB2) modulates the stemness feature, chemoresistance, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of colon cancer via regulating GINS complex subunit 1 (GINS1) expression. Cell Commun Signal 2024; 22:420. [PMID: 39210373 PMCID: PMC11361113 DOI: 10.1186/s12964-024-01789-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2024] [Accepted: 08/12/2024] [Indexed: 09/04/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Colon cancer is one of the most prevalent tumors in the digestive tract, and its stemness feature significantly contribute to chemoresistance, promote the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process, and ultimately lead to tumor metastasis. Therefore, it is imperative for researchers to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying the enhancement of stemness feature, chemoresistance, and EMT in colon cancer. METHODS Sphere-formation and western blotting assays were conducted to assess the stemness feature. Edu, flow cytometry, and cell viability assays were employed to evaluate the chemoresistance. Immunofluorescence and western blotting assays were utilized to detect EMT. Immunoprecipitation, ubiquitination, agarose gel electrophoresis, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by quantitative PCR (chip-qPCR), and dual luciferase reporter gene assays were employed for mechanistic investigations. RESULTS We demonstrated a markedly higher expression level of OTUB2 in colon cancer tissues compared to adjacent tissues. Furthermore, elevated OTUB2 expression was closely associated with poor prognosis and distant tumor metastasis. Functional experiments revealed that knockdown of OTUB2 attenuated stemness feature of colon cancer, enhanced its sensitivity to oxaliplatin, inhibited its EMT process, ultimately reduced the ability of tumor metastasis. Conversely, overexpression of OTUB2 exerted opposite effects. Mechanistically, we identified OTUB2 as a deubiquitinase for SP1 protein which bound specifically to SP1 protein, thereby inhibiting K48 ubiquitination of SP1 protein. The SP1 protein functioned as a transcription factor for the GINS1, exerting its regulatory effect by binding to the 1822-1830 region of the GINS1 promoter and enhancing its transcriptional activity. Ultimately, alterations in GINS1 expression directly regulated stemness feature, chemosensitivity, and EMT progression in colon cancer. CONCLUSION Collectively, the OTUB2/SP1/GINS1 axis played a pivotal role in driving stemness feature, chemoresistance, and EMT in colon cancer. These results shed new light on understanding chemoresistance and metastasis mechanisms involved in colon cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wenjie Zhu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Changlei Wu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Zitao Liu
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - ShiMin Zhao
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
- Jiangxi Province Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China
| | - Jun Huang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China.
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Liang J, Yao N, Deng B, Li J, Jiang Y, Liu T, Hu Y, Cao M, Hong J. GINS1 promotes ZEB1-mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition and tumor metastasis via β-catenin signaling in hepatocellular carcinoma. J Cell Physiol 2024; 239:e31237. [PMID: 38468464 DOI: 10.1002/jcp.31237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2023] [Revised: 02/13/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/13/2024]
Abstract
GINS1 regulates DNA replication in the initiation and elongation phases and plays an important role in the progression of various malignant tumors. However, the role of GINS1 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains largely unclear. In this study, we investigated the role and underlying mechanisms of GINS1 in contributing to HCC metastasis. We found that GINS1 was significantly upregulated in HCC tissues and cell lines, especially in HCC tissues with vascular invasion and HCC cell lines with highly metastatic properties. Additionally, high expression of GINS1 was positively correlated with the progressive clinical features of HCC patients, including tumor number (multiple), tumor size (>5 cm), advanced tumor stage, vascular invasion and early recurrence, suggesting that GINS1 upregulation was greatly involved in HCC metastasis. Moreover, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis revealed that high GINS1 expression predicted a poor prognosis. Both in vitro and in vivo, silencing of GINS1 inhibited proliferation, migration, invasion and metastasis, while overexpression of GINS1 induced opposite effects. Mechanistically, we found that ZEB1 was a crucial regulator of GINS1-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and GINS1 promoted EMT and tumor metastasis through β-catenin signaling. Overall, the present study demonstrated that GINS1 promoted ZEB1-mediated EMT and tumor metastasis via β-catenin signaling in HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjie Liang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Nan Yao
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Bo Deng
- Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Shunde Hospital, Jinan University, Foshan, China
| | - Jinying Li
- Department of Digestive Endoscopy, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Yuchuan Jiang
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Tongzheng Liu
- College of Pharmacy/International Cooperative Laboratory of Traditional Chinese Medicine Modernization and Innovative Drug Development of Ministry of Education (MOE) of China, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Youzhu Hu
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
- Department of General Surgery, The Affiliated Shunde Hospital, Jinan University, Foshan, China
| | - Mingrong Cao
- Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
| | - Jian Hong
- Department of Pathophysiology, School of Medicine, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China
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Zhu Y, Hou S, Kang C. Complementary biomarkers of computed tomography for diagnostic grading of gastric cancer: DSCC1 and GINS1. Aging (Albany NY) 2024; 16:4149-4168. [PMID: 38301047 PMCID: PMC10968684 DOI: 10.18632/aging.205491] [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: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 12/19/2023] [Indexed: 02/03/2024]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Computed tomography (CT) is an important tool for grading gastric cancer. Gastric cancer typically originates from epithelial cells of gastric mucosa. However, complementary markers for gastric cancer, relationship between DSCC1, GINS1 and gastric cancer remain unclear. METHODS Gastric cancer data were obtained from gene expression omnibus (GEO). Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified, weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) was conducted. Protein-protein interaction (PPI) network was constructed and analyzed. Functional enrichment analysis, gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA), gene expression heatmaps, immune infiltration analysis were performed. The most relevant diseases related to core genes were identified using Comparative Toxicogenomics Database (CTD). TargetScan was used to screen miRNAs. Validation was carried out using Western blotting (WB) and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). RESULTS 1243 DEGs were identified. Gene ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Gene and Genome (KEGG) analyses revealed significant enrichment in cell cycle regulation, macrophage migration control, basement membrane, extracellular regions, growth factor binding, protein complex binding, P53 signaling pathway, protein digestion and absorption, metabolic pathways. Immune infiltration analysis indicated that high expression of activated Mast cells and Neutrophils, with a strong positive correlation between them, may influence progression of gastric cancer. CTD analysis revealed associations between DSCC1, GINS1 and gastric tumors, gastrointestinal diseases, tumors, gastritis, inflammation, necrosis. WB and RT-PCR results demonstrated high expression of DSCC1 and GINS1 in gastric cancer. CONCLUSION The expressions of DSCC1 and GINS1 are up-regulated in gastric cancer, which can be used as supplementary markers for CT diagnostic grading of gastric cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yufeng Zhu
- Department of Radiology, The First People’s Hospital of Fuyang, Fuyang, Hangzhou 311400, China
| | - Shiyang Hou
- Department of General Surgery, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Shijingshan, Beijing 100144, China
| | - Chunbo Kang
- Department of General Surgery, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Shijingshan, Beijing 100144, China
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Ren X, Shen L, Gao S. Transcription Factor E2F1 Enhances Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Proliferation and Stemness by Activating GINS1. J Environ Pathol Toxicol Oncol 2024; 43:79-90. [PMID: 37824372 DOI: 10.1615/jenvironpatholtoxicoloncol.2023048594] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Present studies report that high expression of GINS complex subunit 1 (GINS1) is notably pertinent to poor survival for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but it remains unclear how GINS1 affects the progression of HCC. This study aims at investigating the mechanism by which GINS1 affects HCC cell proliferation and stemness. We performed bioinformatics analysis for determining GINS1 expression in HCC tissues, as well as the HCC patients' survival rate with different expression levels of GINS1. E2F transcription factor 1 (E2F1) was predicted as the upstream transcription factor of GINS1, and the binding relation between the two was verified by chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction was adopted to evaluate the expression of GINS1 and E2F1. The protein expression levels of GINS1, E2F1, and cell stemness-related genes (SOX-2, NANOG, OCT4, and CD133) were detected by Western blot. Afterward, the proliferative capacity and stemness of HCC tumor cells were determined through colony formation, cell counting kit-8, and sphere formation assays. Our study found the high expression of GINS1 and E2F1 in HCC, and overexpressed GINS1 markedly enhanced the sphere formation and proliferation of HCC cells, while silencing GINS1 led to the opposite results. Besides, E2F1 promoted the transcription of GINS1 by working as an upstream transcription factor. The results of the rescue experiment suggested that overexpressed E2F1 could offset the suppressive effect of GINS1 silencing on HCC cell stemness and proliferation. We demonstrated that the transcription factor E2F1 accelerated cell proliferation and stemness in HCC by activating GINS1 transcription. The results can provide new insight into the GINS1-related regulatory mechanism in HCC, which suggest that it may be an effective way for HCC treatment by targeting the E2F1/GINS1 axis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuefeng Ren
- Department of General Surgery, Linping Campus, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 311100, China
| | - Lianqiang Shen
- Department of General Surgery, Linping Campus, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 311100, China
| | - Shan Gao
- Department of General Surgery, Linping Campus, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 311100, China
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Ge R, Wang C, Liu J, Jiang H, Jiang X, Liu Z. A Novel Tumor-Promoting Role for Nuclear Factor IX in Glioblastoma Is Mediated through Transcriptional Activation of GINS1. Mol Cancer Res 2023; 21:189-198. [PMID: 36469009 DOI: 10.1158/1541-7786.mcr-22-0504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2022] [Revised: 10/25/2022] [Accepted: 11/30/2022] [Indexed: 12/09/2022]
Abstract
Our previous study illustrated that nuclear factor IX (NFIX) promotes glioblastoma (GBM) progression by inducing migration and proliferation of GBM cells. However, the underlying mechanism of how NFIX regulates GBM cell proliferation remains obscure. In this study, we uncovered that Go-Ichi-Ni-San 1 (GINS1) is upregulated and positively correlated with NFIX in human GBM specimen. NFIX silencing downregulates the expression of GINS1, which is pivotal for cell-cycle progression and proliferation of GBM cells. Replenishment of GINS1 largely rescues the NFIX-null effect on GBM cell proliferation. Mechanistic investigation revealed that NFIX transcriptionally actives GINS1 expression by directly binding to promoter region (-1779 to -1793bp) of the GINS1 gene. Furthermore, knockdown of NFIX sensitizes GBM cells to DNA damage-inducing agents including doxorubicin and temozolomide, in a GINS1-dependent manner. IMPLICATIONS Our study highlights that targeting NFIX-GINS1 axis could be a novel and potential therapeutic approach for GBM treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruixiang Ge
- The Translational Research Institute for Neurological Disorders of Wannan Medical College, Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College (Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College), Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Chenci Wang
- School of Graduate Studies, Wannan Medical College, Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Jiangang Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,The Third School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
| | - Haibo Jiang
- The Translational Research Institute for Neurological Disorders of Wannan Medical College, Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College (Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College), Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Xiaochun Jiang
- The Translational Research Institute for Neurological Disorders of Wannan Medical College, Department of Neurosurgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College (Yijishan Hospital of Wannan Medical College), Wuhu, Anhui, China
| | - Zhuohao Liu
- Department of Neurosurgery, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,The Third School of Clinical Medicine, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Viral Oncology, The Clinical Innovation & Research Centre, Shenzhen Hospital, Southern Medical University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
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Evaluation of the Synergistic Potential of Simultaneous Pan- or Isoform-Specific BET and SYK Inhibition in B-Cell Lymphoma: An In Vitro Approach. Cancers (Basel) 2022; 14:cancers14194691. [PMID: 36230614 PMCID: PMC9564024 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14194691] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/17/2022] [Revised: 09/13/2022] [Accepted: 09/21/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Simple Summary B-cell lymphomas represent the majority of non-Hodgkin lymphomas and are the most common lymphoid malignancies in the Western world. Genetic alterations or epigenetic modulations can lead to tumor initiation and tumor progression. Aside from standard care, targeted, individualized therapies can be highly effective. Here, we evaluated the impact of simultaneous specific inhibition of two key regulators involved in B lymphoid tumor progression. Spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) is a B-cell receptor-associated kinase acting as a proto-oncogene in B-cell malignancies, while bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are epigenetic reader proteins involved in histone recognition and transcription regulation. The simultaneous inhibition of SYK and BET showed enhanced anti-proliferative effects, as well as inducing a distinct combination-specific gene expression profile, suggesting SYK and BET inhibition as a promising combination in the treatment of B-cell lymphoma. Abstract Background: Both bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins and spleen tyrosine kinase (SYK) represent promising targets in diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) and Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). We evaluated the anti-lymphoma activity of the isoform-specific bivalent BET inhibitor AZD5153 (AZD) and the pan-BET inhibitor I-BET151 (I-BET) as single agents and in combination with SYK inhibitor Entospletinib (Ento) in vitro. Methods: The effect of the single agents on cell proliferation and metabolic activity was evaluated in two DLBCL and two BL cell lines. Proliferation, metabolic activity, apoptosis, cell cycle and morphology were further investigated after a combined treatment of AZD or I-BET and Ento. RNAseq profiling of combined AZD+Ento treatment was performed in SU-DHL-4 cells. Results: Both BET inhibitors reduced cell proliferation and metabolic activity in a dose- and time-dependent manner. Combined BET and SYK inhibition enhanced the anti-proliferative effect and induced a G0/G1 cell cycle arrest. SU-DHL-4 demonstrated a pronounced modulation of gene expression by AZD, which was markedly increased by additional SYK inhibition. Functional enrichment analyses identified combination-specific GO terms related to DNA replication and cell division. Genes such as ADGRA2, MYB, TNFRSF11A, S100A10, PLEKHH3, DHRS2 and FOXP1-AS1 were identified as possible key regulators. Conclusion: Simultaneous inhibition of BET and SYK enhanced the anti-proliferative effects, and induced a combination-specific gene expression signature.
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