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Ma Q, Wu F, Liu X, Zhao C, Sun Y, Li Y, Zhang W, Ju H, Wang Y. 20-hydroxyecdysone suppresses bladder cancer progression via inhibiting USP21: A mechanism associated with deubiquitination and degradation of p65. Transl Oncol 2024; 45:101958. [PMID: 38663220 PMCID: PMC11059137 DOI: 10.1016/j.tranon.2024.101958] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2023] [Revised: 03/22/2024] [Accepted: 04/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/03/2024] Open
Abstract
Bladder cancer is one of the most common malignancies of the urinary tract and a prevalent cancer worldwide, still requiring efficient therapeutic agents and approaches. 20-Hydroxyecdysone (20-HE), a steroid hormone, can be found in insects and few plants and mediate numerous biological events to control the progression of varying diseases; however, its impacts on bladder cancer remain unclear. In the study, we found that 20-HE treatments effectively inhibited the viability and proliferation of bladder cancer cells and induced apoptosis by activating Caspase-3. The migratory and invasive potential of bladder cancer cells was markedly repressed by 20-HE in a dose-dependent manner. The inhibitory effects of 20-HE on bladder cancer were confirmed in an established xenograft mouse model, as indicated by the markedly reduced tumor growth rates and limited lung and lymph node metastasis. High-throughput RNA sequencing was performed to explore dysregulated genes in bladder cancer cells after 20-HE treatment. We identified ubiquitin-specific protease 21 (USP21) as a key deubiquitinating enzyme for bladder cancer progression and a positive correlation between USP21 and nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)/p65 in patients. Furthermore, 20-HE treatments markedly reduced USP21 expression, NF-κB/p65 mRNA, stability and phosphorylated NF-κB/p65 expression levels in bladder cancer cells, which were validated in animal tumor tissues. Mechanistic studies showed that USP21 directly interacted with and stabilized p65 by deubiquitinating its K48-linked polyubiquitination in bladder cancer cells, which could be abolished by 20-HE treatment, contributing to p65 degradation. Finally, we found that USP21 overexpression could not only facilitate the proliferation, migration, and invasion of bladder cancer cells, but also significantly eliminated the suppressive effects of 20-HE on bladder cancer. Notably, 20-HE could still perform its anti-tumor role in bladder cancer when USP21 was knocked down with decreased NF-κB/p65 expression and activation, revealing that USP21 suppression might not be the only way for 20-HE during bladder cancer treatment. Collectively, all our results clearly demonstrated that 20-HE may function as a promising therapeutic strategy for bladder cancer treatment mainly through reducing USP21/p65 signaling expression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Ma
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China; School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China; Department of Pharmacy, Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital, Shenzhen, China
| | - Fei Wu
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Xiaohui Liu
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Cuifang Zhao
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Yang Sun
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Yuanyuan Li
- Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Wei Zhang
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China; Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China
| | - Hongge Ju
- School of Basic and Forensic Medicine, Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China; Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Baotou Medical College, Baotou, China.
| | - Yukun Wang
- School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China; Department of Pharmacy, Southern University of Science and Technology Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
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Xiao S, Chen J, Wei Y, Song W. BHLHE41 inhibits bladder cancer progression via regulation of PYCR1 stability and thus inactivating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Eur J Med Res 2024; 29:302. [PMID: 38811952 PMCID: PMC11134742 DOI: 10.1186/s40001-024-01889-2] [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: 03/28/2024] [Accepted: 05/18/2024] [Indexed: 05/31/2024] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The basic helix-loop-helix family member e41 (BHLHE41) is frequently dysregulated in tumors and plays a crucial role in malignant progression of various cancers. Nevertheless, its specific function and underlying mechanism in bladder cancer (BCa) remain largely unexplored. METHODS The expression levels of BHLHE41 in BCa tissues and cells were examined by qRT-PCR and western blot assays. BCa cells stably knocking down or overexpressing BHLHE41 were constructed through lentivirus infection. The changes of cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution, migration, and invasion were detected by CCK-8, flow cytometry, wound healing, transwell invasion assays, respectively. The expression levels of related proteins were detected by western blot assay. The interaction between BHLHE41 and PYCR1 was explored by co-immunoprecipitation analysis. RESULTS In this study, we found that BHLHE41 was lowly expressed in bladder cancer tissues and cell lines, and lower expression of BHLHE41 was associated with poor overall survival in bladder cancer patients. Functionally, by manipulating the expression of BHLHE41, we demonstrated that overexpression of BHLHE41 significantly retarded cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and induced cell cycle arrest in bladder cancer through various in vitro and in vivo experiments, while silence of BHLHE41 caused the opposite effect. Mechanistically, we showed that BHLHE41 directly interacted with PYCR1, decreased its stability and resulted in the ubiquitination and degradation of PYCR1, thus inactivating PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Rescue experiments showed that the effects induced by BHLHE41 overexpression could be attenuated by further upregulating PYCR1. CONCLUSION BHLHE41 might be a useful prognostic biomarker and a tumor suppressor in bladder cancer. The BHLHE41/PYCR1/PI3K/AKT axis might be a potential therapeutic target for bladder cancer intervention.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuai Xiao
- Department of Urology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410011, China
| | - Junjie Chen
- Department of Urology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410011, China
| | - Yongbao Wei
- Department of Urology, Fujian Provincial Hospital, Shengli Clinical Medical College of Fujian Medical University, Fuzhou, 350001, China.
| | - Wei Song
- Department of Urology, Hunan Provincial People's Hospital, The First Affiliated Hospital of Hunan Normal University, Changsha, 410011, China.
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Xie H, Rutz J, Maxeiner S, Grein T, Thomas A, Juengel E, Chun FKH, Cinatl J, Haferkamp A, Tsaur I, Blaheta RA. Sulforaphane Inhibits Adhesion and Migration of Cisplatin- and Gemcitabine-Resistant Bladder Cancer Cells In Vitro. Nutrients 2024; 16:623. [PMID: 38474751 DOI: 10.3390/nu16050623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/16/2024] [Revised: 02/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/22/2024] [Indexed: 03/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Only 20% of patients with muscle-invasive bladder carcinoma respond to cisplatin-based chemotherapy. Since the natural phytochemical sulforaphane (SFN) exhibits antitumor properties, its influence on the adhesive and migratory properties of cisplatin- and gemcitabine-sensitive and cisplatin- and gemcitabine-resistant RT4, RT112, T24, and TCCSUP bladder cancer cells was evaluated. Mechanisms behind the SFN influence were explored by assessing levels of the integrin adhesion receptors β1 (total and activated) and β4 and their functional relevance. To evaluate cell differentiation processes, E- and N-cadherin, vimentin and cytokeratin (CK) 8/18 expression were examined. SFN down-regulated bladder cancer cell adhesion with cell line and resistance-specific differences. Different responses to SFN were reflected in integrin expression that depended on the cell line and presence of resistance. Chemotactic movement of RT112, T24, and TCCSUP (RT4 did not migrate) was markedly blocked by SFN in both chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant cells. Integrin-blocking studies indicated β1 and β4 as chemotaxis regulators. N-cadherin was diminished by SFN, particularly in sensitive and resistant T24 and RT112 cells, whereas E-cadherin was increased in RT112 cells (not detectable in RT4 and TCCSup cells). Alterations in vimentin and CK8/18 were also apparent, though not the same in all cell lines. SFN exposure resulted in translocation of E-cadherin (RT112), N-cadherin (RT112, T24), and vimentin (T24). SFN down-regulated adhesion and migration in chemo-sensitive and chemo-resistant bladder cancer cells by acting on integrin β1 and β4 expression and inducing the mesenchymal-epithelial translocation of cadherins and vimentin. SFN does, therefore, possess potential to improve bladder cancer therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Xie
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Department of Urology, Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Jochen Rutz
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Sebastian Maxeiner
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Timothy Grein
- Department of Urology, Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Anita Thomas
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Eva Juengel
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Felix K-H Chun
- Department of Urology, Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Jindrich Cinatl
- Institute of Medical Virology, Goethe-University, 60596 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Axel Haferkamp
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Igor Tsaur
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
| | - Roman A Blaheta
- Department of Urology and Pediatric Urology, University Medical Center Mainz, 55131 Mainz, Germany
- Department of Urology, Goethe-University, 60590 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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Zhang N, Wang F, Yang X, Wang Q, Chang R, Zhu L, Feitelson MA, Chen Z. TMEM43 promotes the development of hepatocellular carcinoma by activating VDAC1 through USP7 deubiquitination. Transl Gastroenterol Hepatol 2024; 9:9. [PMID: 38317750 PMCID: PMC10838614 DOI: 10.21037/tgh-23-108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/21/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Background Transmembrane protein 43 (TMEM43), a member of the TMEM subfamily, is encoded by a highly conserved gene and widely expressed in most species from bacteria to humans. In previous studies, TMEM43 has been found to play an important role in a variety of tumors. However, the role of TMEM43 in cancer remains unclear. Methods We utilized the RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TGCA) databases to explore and identify genes that may play an important role in the occurrence and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), such as TMEM43. The role of TMEM43 in HCC was explored through Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) cloning, flow cytometry, and Transwell experiments. The regulatory relationship between TMEM43 and voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1) was investigated through coimmunoprecipitation (co-IP) and western blot (WB) experiments. WB was used to study the deubiquitination effect of ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) on TMEM43. Results In this study, we utilized the RNA-seq and TGCA databases to mine data and found that TMEM43 is highly expressed in HCC. The absence of TMEM43 in cancer cells was shown to inhibit tumor development. Further research detected an important regulatory relationship between TMEM43 and VDAC1. In addition, we found that USP7 affected the progression of HCC by regulating the ubiquitination level of TMEM43 through deubiquitination. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that USP7 participates in the growth of HCC tumors through TMEM43/VDAC1.Our results suggest that USP7/TMEM43/VDAC1 may have predictive value and represent a new treatment strategy for HCC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nannan Zhang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Feiran Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Xiaobing Yang
- Department of General Surgery, Huai’an Hospital of Huai’an City, Huai’an, China
| | - Quhui Wang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Renan Chang
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Lirong Zhu
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
| | - Mark A. Feitelson
- Department of Biology, College of Science and Technology, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Zhong Chen
- Department of General Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Medical College of Nantong University, Nantong, China
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