The effects of MIBG on the invasive properties of HepG2 hepatocellular carcinoma cells

ART1 knockdown decreases the IL-6-induced proliferation of colorectal cancer cells

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a worldwide health concern. Chronic inflammation is a risk factor for CRC, and interleukin-6 (IL-6) plays a pivotal role in this process. Arginine-specific mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase-1 (ART1) positively regulates inflammatory cytokines. ART1 knockdown reduces the level of glycoprotein 130 (gp130), a key transducer in the IL-6 signalling pathway. However, the relationship between ART1 and IL-6 and the resulting effects on IL-6-induced proliferation in CRC cells remain unclear. The aims of this study were to investigate the effects of ART1 knockdown on IL-6-induced cell proliferation in vitro and use an in vivo murine model to observe the growth of transplanted tumours. The results showed that compared with the control, ART1-sh cancer cells induced by IL-6 exhibited reduced viability, a lower rate of colony formation, less DNA synthesis, decreased protein levels of gp130, c-Myc, cyclin D1, Bcl-xL, and a reduced p-STAT3/STAT3 ratio (P < 0.05). Moreover, mice transplanted with ART1-sh CT26 cells that had high levels of IL-6 displayed tumours with smaller volumes (P < 0.05). ART1 and gp130 were colocalized in CT26, LoVo and HCT116 cells, and their expression was positively correlated in human CRC tissues. Overall, ART1 may serve as a promising regulatory factor for IL-6 signalling and a potential therapeutic target for human CRC.

ITGA7 relates to disease risk, pathological feature, treatment response and survival in Ph- acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Background: This study aimed to investigate clinical involvement of ITGA7 in Philadelphia-chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph^- ALL). Methods: We sampled bone marrow (BM) from 91 Ph^- ALL patients and 20 healthy donors (HDs), detecting ITGA7 expression in BM. Results: ITGA7 was highly expressed in Ph^- ALL patients at differentiating values between Ph^- ALL patients and HDs. Elevated ITGA7 expression was associated with CNS leukemia (CNSL) occurrence and increased percentage of BM blasts in Ph^- ALL patients. Elevated ITGA7 expression was linked with lower complete remission rate (CR), worse event-free survival, and worse overall survival in Ph^- ALL patients. Conclusion: ITGA7 highly expressed, correlated with CNSL occurrence and higher BM blasts, furthermore predicts lower CR rate and worse prognosis.

Integrin α7 knockdown suppresses cell proliferation, migration, invasion and EMT in hepatocellular carcinoma

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of integrin α7 (ITGA7) on regulating hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression and endothelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). ITGA7 mRNA and protein expression in human normal liver epithelial cells and HCC cell lines were determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and western blotting. ITGA7 small interfering RNA [siRNA; ITGA7-knockdown (KD) group] and nonsense siRNA (control group) were transfected into Huh7 cells and SNU449 cells, respectively. ITGA7 mRNA and protein expression (RT-qPCR and western blotting, respectively), cell proliferation (Cell Counting Kit-8 assay), apoptosis (annexin V/propidium iodide assay), migration (wound scratch assay) and invasion (Transwell assay) were then detetected. E-cadherin, α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), vimentin and V-cadherin levels (RT-qPCR and western blotting) were also assessed. ITGA7 mRNA and protein expression levels were increased in Li7, Huh7, SKHEP1 and SNU449 cells compared with THLE-3 cells. Following transfection, ITGA7 mRNA and protein expression was lower in the ITGA7-KD group compared with that in the control group in both Huh7 and SNU449 cells, indicating successful transfection. In the ITGA7-KD group, cell proliferation decreased at 48 and 72 h, cell apoptosis rates increased at 48 h, cell migration rate was reduced at 24 h and cell invasion decreased at 24 h compared with the control group. Additionally, increased E-cadherin but decreased α-SMA, vimentin and V-cadherin mRNA and protein expression levels were observed in the ITGA7-KD group compared with the control group at 24 h. In conclusion, ITGA7 knockdown suppressed HCC progression and inhibited EMT in HCC in vitro, implying that ITGA7 might be a novel treatment target for HCC.

Integrin alpha 7 correlates with poor clinical outcomes, and it regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis and stemness via PTK2-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway in hepatocellular carcinoma

This study aimed to evaluate the correlation of integrin alpha 7 (ITGA7) with clinical outcomes and its effect on cell activities as well as stemness in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HCC tumor tissues and paired adjacent tissues from 90 HCC patients were obtained and ITGA7 expression was detected using immunohistochemistry assay. Cellular experiments were conducted to examine the effect of ITGA7 on cell activities, astemness via ITGA7 ShRNA transfection, and compensation experiments were further performed to test whether ITGA7 functioned via regulating PTK2-PI3K-AKT signaling pathway. ITGA7 was overexpressed in tumor tissues compared with paired adjacent tissues and its high expression was correlated with larger tumor size, vein invasion and advanced Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer stage, and it also independently predicted worse overall survival in HCC patients. In cellular experiments, ITGA7 was upregulated in SMMC-7721, Hep G2, HuH-7 and BEL-7404 cell lines compared with normal human liver cells HL-7702. ITGA7 knockdown suppressed cell proliferation but promoted apoptosis, and it also downregulated CSCs markers (CD44, CD133 and OCT-4) as well as PTK2, PI3K and AKT expressions in SMMC-7721 and Hep G2 cell lines. ITGA7 overexpression promoted cell proliferation but inhibited apoptosis, and it also upregulated CSCs markers in HL-7702 cells. Further compensation experiments verified that ITGA7 regulated cell proliferation, apoptosis and CSCs markers via PTK2-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. ITGA7 negatively associates with clinical outcomes in HCC patients, and it regulates cell proliferation, apoptosis and CSCs markers via PTK2-PI3K-Akt signaling pathway.

Forkhead box C1 promotes colorectal cancer metastasis through transactivating ITGA7 and FGFR4 expression

Metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common causes of cancer death worldwide; however, the molecular mechanism underlying CRC metastasis remains unknown. Using an integrated approach, we identified forkhead box C1 (FOXC1) as a novel regulator of CRC metastasis. Elevated expression of FOXC1 is significantly correlated with metastasis, recurrence and reduced survival. FOXC1 overexpression promotes CRC invasion and lung metastasis, whereas FOXC1 knockdown has the opposite effect. In addition, FOXC1 directly binds its target genes integrin α7 (ITGA7) and fibroblast growth factor receptor 4 (FGFR4) and activates their expression. Genetic epistasis analysis confirmed that ITGA7 and FGFR4 act downstream of FOXC1. Furthermore, pharmaceutical inhibition of FGFR4 can reverse CRC metastasis mediated by FOXC1 overexpression. These results suggest that FOXC1 is a prognostic biomarker in CRC patients and targeting the FGFR4 signaling pathway may provide a promising strategy for the treatment of FOXC1-driven CRC metastasis.

S100P interacts with integrin α7 and increases cancer cell migration and invasion in lung cancer

S100P, a Ca2⁺ binding protein, has been shown to be overexpressed in various cancers. However, its functional character in lung cancer remains largely unknown. In this study, we show that S100P increases cancer migration, invasion and metastasis in lung cancer cells. Ectopic expression of S100P increases migration, invasion and EMT in less invasive CL1-0 lung cancer cells. Conversely, knockdown of S100P suppressed migration and invasion, and caused a reversion of EMT in highly invasive lung cancer cells. These effects were transduced by increasing the interaction of S100P with integrin α7, which activated focal adhesion kinase (FAK) and AKT. Blocking FAK significantly decreased S100P-induced migration by decreasing Src and AKT activation, whereas inhibiting AKT reduced S100P upregulation on ZEB1 expression. Further study has indicated that S100P knockdown prevents the spread of highly metastatic human lung cancer in animal models. This study therefore suggests that S100P represents a critical activator of lung cancer metastasis. Detection and targeted treatment of S100P-expressing cancer is an attractive therapeutic strategy in treating lung cancer.

Arginine ADP-ribosyltransferase 1 promotes angiogenesis in colorectal cancer via the PI3K/Akt pathway

Arginine adenosine diphosphate (ADP)-ribosyl-transferase 1 (ART1) is known to play an important role in many physiological and pathological processes. Previous studies have demonstrated that ART1 promotes proliferation, invasion and metastasis in colon carcinoma. However, it was unclear whether ART1 is involved in angiogenesis in cases of colorectal cancer (CRC). In the present study, lentiviral vector‑mediated ART1‑cDNA or ART1-shRNA were transfected into LoVo cells, and the LoVo cells transfected with ART1-cDNA or ART1-shRNA were co-cultured with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) to determine the influence of ART1 on HUVECs. The proliferation, migration and angiogenesis of HUVECs were monitored using a cell counting kit-8 assay, a Transwell migration assay and immunohistochemical analysis in intrasplenic allograft tumors, respectively. Hypoxia‑inducible factor 1-α (HIF-1α), total (t-)Akt, phosphorylated (p-)Akt, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) expression levels were detected via western blot analysis. Our results revealed that HUVECs which were co-cultured with ART1-cDNA LoVo cells showed higher proliferation, migration and angiogenic abilities, but a reduction was noted in those cultured with ART1-shRNA LoVo cells; p-Akt, HIF-1α, VEGF and bFGF expression was increased in HUVECs cultured with ART1‑cDNA-transfected LoVo cells, but reduced in ART1-shRNA-transfected LoVo cells. In a mouse xenograft model, we noted that the tumor microvessel density (MVD) was significantly increased in intrasplenic transplanted ART1‑cDNA CT26 tumors but decreased in intrasplenic transplanted ART1‑shRNA tumors. These data suggest that ART1 promoted the expression of HIF-1α via the Akt pathway in tumor cells. It also upregulated VEGF and bFGF and enhanced angiogenesis in HUVECs. Thus, we suggest that ART1 plays an important role in the invasion of CRC cells and the metastasis of CRC.