Actin-like protein 6A is a novel prognostic indicator promoting invasion and metastasis in osteosarcoma

Sulforaphane suppresses cell proliferation and induces apoptosis in glioma via the ACTL6A/PGK1 axis

This study aimed to examine the expression and biological functions of ACTL6A in glioma cells (U251), the effects of sulforaphane on the growth of U251 cells and the involvement of the ACTL6A/PGK1 pathway in those effects. The U251 cell line was transfected with ACTL6A over-expression plasmids to upregulate the protein, or with ACTL6A inhibitor to underexpress it, then treated with different concentrations of sulforaphane. Cell viability, proliferation, and apoptosis were assessed using standard assays, and levels of mRNAs encoding ACTL6A, PGK1, cyclin D1, Myc, Bax or Bcl-2 were measured using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). ACTL6A and PGK1 were expressed at higher levels in glioma cell lines than in normal HEB cells. ACTL6A overexpression upregulated PGK1, whereas ACTL6A inhibition had the opposite effect. ACTL6A overexpression induced proliferation, whereas its inhibition repressed proliferation, enhanced apoptosis, and halted the cell cycle. Moreover, sulforaphane suppressed the growth of U251 cells by inactivating the ACTL6A/PGK1 axis. ACTL6A acts via PGK1 to play a critical role in glioma cell survival and proliferation, and sulforaphane targets it to inhibit glioma.

ACTL6A protects gastric cancer cells against ferroptosis through induction of glutathione synthesis

Gastric cancer (GC), one of the most common malignant tumors in the world, exhibits a rapid metastasis rate and causes high mortality. Diagnostic markers and potential therapeutic targets for GCs are urgently needed. Here we show that Actin-like protein 6 A (ACTL6A), encoding an SWI/SNF subunit, is highly expressed in GCs. ACTL6A is found to be critical for regulating the glutathione (GSH) metabolism pathway because it upregulates γ-glutamyl-cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) expression, thereby reducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and inhibiting ferroptosis, a regulated form of cell death driven by the accumulation of lipid-based ROS. Mechanistic studies show that ACTL6A upregulates GCLC as a cotranscription factor with Nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (NRF2) and that the hydrophobic region of ACTL6A plays an important role. Our data highlight the oncogenic role of ACTL6A in GCs and indicate that inhibition of ACTL6A or GCLC could be a potential treatment strategy for GCs.

Regulation of the Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Osteosarcoma

The epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a cellular process that has been linked to the promotion of aggressive cellular features in many cancer types. It is characterized by the loss of the epithelial cell phenotype and a shift to a more mesenchymal phenotype and is accompanied by an associated change in cell markers. EMT is highly complex and regulated via multiple signaling pathways. While the importance of EMT is classically described for carcinomas-cancers of epithelial origin-it has also been clearly demonstrated in non-epithelial cancers, including osteosarcoma (OS), a primary bone cancer predominantly affecting children and young adults. Recent studies examining EMT in OS have highlighted regulatory roles for multiple proteins, non-coding nucleic acids, and components of the tumor micro-environment. This review serves to summarize these experimental findings, identify key families of regulatory molecules, and identify potential therapeutic targets specific to the EMT process in OS.

Upregulated Expression of Actin-Like 6A is a Risk Factor Affecting the Prognosis of Pancreatic Cancer

Purpose

Actin-like 6A (ACTL6A), a regulatory subunit of the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complex SWI/SNF, acts as an oncogenic factor. This study is aimed at evaluating the correlation between ACTL6A expression and clinicopathological parameters in pancreatic cancer (PC) patients.

Methods

The differences of Actl6a mRNA expression between PC tissues and normal pancreatic tissues were analyzed in public databases, and ACTL6A expression was then determined and confirmed in 60 paired tissue specimens using immunohistochemistry staining. The association analysis between ACTL6A expression and the clinicopathological characteristics was analyzed, as well as Kaplan–Meier survival analysis. Univariate and multivariate Cox analyses were performed to identify the prognostic factors in the overall survival (OS) of patients with PC.

Results

The mRNA expression of Actl6a showed significantly higher in PC compared to normal controls (p < 0.05) from public databases. The score of immunohistochemistry staining further confirmed that ACTL6A expression was significantly upregulated in PC tissues (p < 0.001) through immunohistochemistry staining. High ACTL6A expression was associated with lymphovascular space invasion of PC. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that the high expression of ACTL6A was markedly associated with poor OS. Moreover, univariate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that ACTL6A acted as an independent risk factor for PC prognosis.

Conclusion

ACTL6A is upregulated in PC and acts as a risk factor for poor prognosis in patients with PC, and therefore clinicians could around it design preventive measures and individualized treatment to improve mortality in patients with PC.

Osteosarcoma and Metastasis

Osteosarcoma is the most common primary bone malignancy in adolescents. Its high propensity to metastasize is the leading cause for treatment failure and poor prognosis. Although the research of osteosarcoma has greatly expanded in the past decades, the knowledge and new therapy strategies targeting metastatic progression remain sparse. The prognosis of patients with metastasis is still unsatisfactory. There is resonating urgency for a thorough and deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying osteosarcoma to develop innovative therapies targeting metastasis. Toward the goal of elaborating the characteristics and biological behavior of metastatic osteosarcoma, it is essential to combine the diverse investigations that are performed at molecular, cellular, and animal levels from basic research to clinical translation spanning chemical, physical sciences, and biology. This review focuses on the metastatic process, regulatory networks involving key molecules and signaling pathways, the role of microenvironment, osteoclast, angiogenesis, metabolism, immunity, and noncoding RNAs in osteosarcoma metastasis. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of current research advances, with the hope to discovery druggable targets and promising therapy strategies for osteosarcoma metastasis and thus to overcome this clinical impasse.

ACTL6A suppresses p21Cip1 tumor suppressor expression to maintain an aggressive mesothelioma cancer cell phenotype

Mesothelioma is a poor prognosis cancer of the mesothelial lining that develops in response to exposure to various agents including asbestos. Actin-Like Protein 6A (ACTL6A, BAF53a) is a SWI/SNF regulatory complex protein that is elevated in cancer cells and has been implicated as a driver of cancer cell survival and tumor formation. In the present study, we show that ACTL6A drives mesothelioma cancer cell proliferation, spheroid formation, invasion, and migration, and that these activities are markedly attenuated by ACTL6A knockdown. ACTL6A expression reduces the levels of the p21^Cip1 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and tumor suppressor protein. DNA binding studies show that ACTL6A interacts with Sp1 and p53 binding DNA response elements in the p21^Cip1 gene promoter and that this is associated with reduced p21^Cip1 promoter activity and p21^Cip1 mRNA and protein levels. Moreover, ACTL6A suppression of p21^Cip1 expression is required for maintenance of the aggressive mesothelioma cancer cell phenotype suggesting that p21^Cip1 is a mediator of ACTL6A action. p53, a known inducer of p21^Cip1 expression, is involved ACTL6A in regulation of p21^Cip1 in some but not all mesothelioma cells. In addition, ACTL6A knockout markedly reduces tumor formation and this is associated with elevated tumor levels of p21^Cip1. These findings suggest that ACTL6A suppresses p21^Cip1 promoter activity to reduce p21^Cip1 protein as a mechanism to maintain the aggressive mesothelioma cell phenotype.

ACTL6A promotes repair of cisplatin-induced DNA damage, a new mechanism of platinum resistance in cancer

Cisplatin is a mainstay of systemic therapy for a variety of cancers, such as lung cancer, head and neck cancer, and ovarian cancer. However, resistance to cisplatin represents one of the most significant barriers for patient outcome improvement. Actin-like 6A (ACTL6A) is a component of several chromatin remodeling complexes, including SWI/SNF, NuA4/TIP60 histone acetylase, and INO80. Amplification of ACTL6A gene is often seen in lung squamous cell carcinoma, ovarian cancer, and esophageal cancer, but its significance remains to be fully determined. Here we identify ACTL6A overexpression as a novel cause for platinum resistance. High levels of ACTL6A are associated with chemoresistance in several types of human cancer. We show that overexpression of ACTL6A leads to increased repair of cisplatin-DNA adducts and resistance to cisplatin treatment. In contrast, depletion of ACTL6A inhibits the repair of cisplatin-induced DNA lesions, and increases cisplatin sensitivity in cisplatin-resistant ovarian cancer cells. The regulation of repair by ACTL6A is mediated through the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complex. Treatment with a histone deacetylase inhibitor can reverse the effect of ACTL6A overexpression on the repair of cisplatin-induced DNA damage and render cancer cells more sensitive to cisplatin treatment in a xenograft mouse model. Taken together, our study uncovers a novel role for ACTL6A in platinum resistance, and provides evidence supporting the feasibility of using HDAC inhibitors for platinum resistant tumors.

A panel of eight mRNA signatures improves prognosis prediction of osteosarcoma patients

Genetic alterations are vital to the progression of osteosarcoma carcinoma. The present study investigated a panel of gene signatures that could evaluate prognosis in osteosarcoma based on data from the Therapeutically Applicable Research To Generate Effective Treatments initiative. Osteosarcoma messenger RNA (mRNA) profiles and clinical data were downloaded from the therapeutically applicable research to generate effective treatments database. Patients with osteosarcoma were divided into two groups based on findings at diagnosis: with and without metastasis. Differentially expressed mRNAs were compared and analyzed between groups. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses identified a set of eight mRNAs with the ability to classify patients into high-risk and low-risk groups with significantly different overall survival times. Further analysis indicated that the eight-mRNA signature was an independent prognostic factor after adjusting for other clinical factors. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis demonstrated a good performance of the eight-mRNA signature. Further, the biological processes and signaling pathways of the eight-mRNA signature were reviewed using Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes resources. Finally, the results of the TCGA analysis were verified by other cohorts from Gene Expression Omnibus database. The identification of an eight-mRNA signature not only provides a prognostic biomarker of osteosarcoma but also offers the potential of novel therapeutic targets for its treatment.

Actin-like protein 6A/MYC/CDK2 axis confers high proliferative activity in triple-negative breast cancer

Background

Triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with high proliferative activity. TNBC tumors exhibit elevated MYC expression and altered expression of MYC regulatory genes, which are associated with tumor progression and poor prognosis; however, the underlying mechanisms by which MYC retains its high expression and mediates TNBC tumorigenesis require further exploration.

Methods

ACTL6A regulation of MYC and its target gene, CDK2, was defined using Co-IP, mass spectrometry and ChIP assays. To study the role of ACTL6A in TNBC, we performed soft-agar, colony formation, flow cytometry and tumor formation in nude mice. CDK2 inhibitor and paclitaxel were used in testing combination therapy in vitro and in vivo.

Results

ACTL6A bound MYC to suppress glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK3β)-induced phosphorylation on MYC T58, which inhibited ubiquitination of MYC and stabilized it. Moreover, ACTL6A promoted the recruitment of MYC and histone acetyltransferase KAT5 on CDK2 promoters, leading to hyperactivation of CDK2 transcription. ACTL6A overexpression promoted, while silencing ACTL6A suppressed cell proliferation and tumor growth in TNBC cells in vitro and in vivo, which was dependent on MYC signaling. Furthermore, co-therapy with paclitaxel and CDK2 inhibitor showed synergistic effects in tumor suppression. Notably, ACTL6A/MYC/CDK2 axis was specifically up-regulated in TNBC and high expression of ACTL6A was correlated to shorter survival in patients with TNBC.

Conclusions

These findings reveal a novel mechanism by which ACTL6A prolongs the retention of MYC in TNBC and suggest that pharmacological targeting ACTL6A/MYC/CDK2 axis might have therapeutic potential in patients with TNBC.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13046-021-01856-3.

ACTL6A Promotes the Proliferation of Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma Cells and Correlates with Poor Clinical Outcomes

Background

ACTL6A, a regulatory subunit of ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complexes SWI/SNF, has been identified as a central oncogenic driver in many tumor types.

Materials and Methods

We used immunohistochemistry (IHC) to detect ACTL6A expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) tissues. Then, the effect of ACTL6A on proliferation and DNA synthesis was explored by using cell counting kit 8 (CCK8) and EdU retention assays. The potential oncogenic mechanism of ACTL6A in ESCC cells was also analyzed by flow cytometry and Western blotting. We further established an ESCC xenograft mouse model to validate the in vitro results.

Results

ACTL6A expression, localized in cancer cell nuclei, was markedly higher in ESCC tissues than in the corresponding noncancerous tissues (P<0.001) and was positively associated with tumor size, histological differentiation, T stage and tumor-node-metastasis (TNM) stage. Kaplan–Meier analysis revealed that high ACTL6A expression was significantly associated with poor overall survival (OS) (P = 0.008, HR= 2.562, 95% CI: 1.241–5.289), and decision curve analysis (DCA) demonstrated that ACTL6A could increase the clinical prognostic efficiency of the original clinical prediction model. Further in vitro experiments showed that ACTL6A knockdown led to inhibition of cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in ESCC cell lines, while overexpression of ACTL6A had the opposite effects. ACTL6A knockdown resulted in G1 phase arrest, with downregulation of cyclin D1, CDK2 and S6K1/pS6 pathway proteins and upregulation of p21 and p27, while overexpression of ACTL6A facilitated the entry of more cells into S phase with upregulated cyclin D1, CDK2 and S6K1/pS6 pathway proteins and downregulated p21 and p27. Finally, a xenograft mouse model of ESCC cells validated the results in vitro.

Conclusion

ACTL6A expression may affect the proliferation and DNA synthesis of ESCC cells by facilitating ESCC cell cycle redistribution via the S6K1/pS6 pathway. Therefore, ACTL6A may potentially become an alternative therapeutic target for ESCC.

ACTL6A knockdown inhibits cell migration by suppressing the AKT signaling pathway and enhances the sensitivity of glioma cells to temozolomide

Molecular-targeted therapy has had a significant impact on glioma. Notably, actin-like 6A (ACTL6A) has been indicated to be essential for embryonic development and tumor progression. However, the role of ACTL6A in glioma remains unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the effects of ACTL6A on glioma cell migration and sensitivity to temozolomide (TMZ). The expression levels of ACTL6A were analyzed in patients with glioma, and survival curves were created using data from The Cancer Genome Atlas. U251 and T98G cells were transfected with short hairpin (sh)RNA for use in loss-of-function experiments to investigate the biological function and molecular mechanisms of ACTL6A. Furthermore, an MTT assay was used to assess the effect of ACTL6A on the sensitivity of glioma cells to TMZ. The results demonstrated that ACTL6A was expressed at higher levels in glioma tissues compared with normal brain tissues. Furthermore, high expression of ACTL6A was associated with a poor prognosis. The knockdown of ACTL6A significantly inhibited the migration phenotype in glioma cells and significantly decreased the levels of phosphorylated AKT in glioma cells. The AKT signaling activator SC79 partly attenuated the inhibitory effects of ACTL6A shRNA on glioma cell migration. Additionally, the knockdown of ACTL6A enhanced the sensitivity of glioma cells to TMZ. In conclusion, these results suggest that ACTL6A knockdown inhibited the migration of human glioma cells, at least in part through inactivation of the AKT signaling pathway, and increased the sensitivity of glioma cells to TMZ. Therefore, ACTL6A may be a potential therapeutic target for glioma.

ACTL6A suppresses p21Cip1 expression to enhance the epidermal squamous cell carcinoma phenotype

Epidermal squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is a common and highly invasive form of cancer. SCC arises due to ultraviolet light exposure and is associated with increased expression of pro-cancer genes and reduced expression of cancer suppressors. Actin-Like Protein 6A (ACTL6A, BAF53a) is an important protein subunit of the SWI/SNF epigenetic chromatin regulatory complex. ACTL6A is elevated in cancer cells and has been implicated as a driver of cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth. In the present study, we show that ACTL6A drives SCC cell proliferation, spheroid formation, invasion and migration, and that these activities are markedly reduced by ACTL6A knockdown. We further show that ACTL6A expression is associated with reduced levels of the p21^Cip1 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor and tumor suppressor protein. Molecular studies show that ACTL6A interacts with p53 DNA response elements in the p21^Cip1 gene promoter to suppress p21^Cip1 promoter activity and mRNA and protein level. Additional studies show that an increase in p21^Cip1 expression in ACTL6A knockdown cells is required for suppression of the SCC cell phenotype, suggesting that p21^Cip1 is a mediator of ACTL6A action. We further show that this regulation is p53 independent. These findings suggest that ACTL6A suppresses p21^Cip1 promoter activity to reduce p21^Cip1 protein as a mechanism to maintain the aggressive epidermal SCC phenotype.

Prognostic role of ACTL10 in Cytogenetic Normal Acute Myeloid Leukemia

ACTL10 is a member of the actin family; however, despite previous studies suggesting that certain proteins in this family may be related to the pathogenesis of leukemia, to the best of our knowledge, no studies to date have demonstrated any association between ACTAL10 and leukemia. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the association between ACTL10 expression levels, DNA methylation levels and the clinical prognosis in cytogenic normal acute myeloid leukemia (CN-AML). Data from seventy-five patients with CN-AML and patients with AML treated with chemotherapy or allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset and were used to analyze the clinical prognosis of ACTL10 RNA expression levels and DNA methylation levels. In addition, the study also investigated the combined clinical prognosis of ACTL10 RNA expression levels and ACTL10 DNA methylation levels in 74 patients with CN-AML from the TCGA dataset. ACTL10 RNA expression levels were observed to be highly expressed in patients with CD34⁺/CD38⁺ AML (P<0.01). Both ACTL10 RNA expression levels and DNA methylation were found to be independent prognostic factors for patients with CN-AML; patients with CN-AML in the ACTL10 RNA-high expression group had an increased EFS (P=0.0016) and OS (P=0.014) and patients in ACTL10 DNA methylation-low group also demonstrated a long EFS (P<0.0001) and OS (P=0.004). Notably, integrating ACTL10 RNA expression levels and ACTL10 DNA methylation levels could more accurately predict the prognosis of patients with CN-AML (EFS and OS, P<0.0001). In conclusion, the findings of the present study suggested that the high RNA expression levels and low DNA methylation levels of ACTL10 may predict a good prognosis in patients with CN-AML.

The Actin-Family Protein Arp4 Is a Novel Suppressor for the Formation and Functions of Nuclear F-Actin

The crosstalk between actin and actin-related proteins (Arps), namely Arp2 and Arp3, plays a central role in facilitating actin polymerization in the cytoplasm and also in the nucleus. Nuclear F-actin is required for transcriptional regulation, double-strand break repair, and nuclear organization. The formation of nuclear F-actin is highly dynamic, suggesting the involvement of positive and negative regulators for nuclear actin polymerization. While actin assembly factors for nuclear F-actin have been recently described, information about inhibitory factors is still limited. The actin-related protein Arp4 which is predominantly localized in the nucleus, has been previously identified as an integral subunit of multiple chromatin modulation complexes, where it forms a heterodimer with monomeric actin. Therefore, we tested whether Arp4 functions as a suppressor of nuclear F-actin formation. The knockdown of Arp4 (Arp4 KD) led to an increase in nuclear F-actin formation in NIH3T3 cells, and purified Arp4 potently inhibited F-actin formation in mouse nuclei transplanted into Xenopus laevis oocytes. Consistently, Arp4 KD facilitated F-actin-inducible gene expression (e.g., OCT4) and DNA damage repair. Our results suggest that Arp4 has a critical role in the formation and functions of nuclear F-actin.

MicroRNA-221 regulates osteosarcoma cell proliferation, apoptosis, migration, and invasion by targeting CDKN1B/p27

MicroRNAs (miRNAs, miR) are of critical importance in growth and metastasis of cancer cells; however, the underlying functions of miRNAs in osteosarcoma (OS) remain largely unknown. This study was aimed to elucidate the role of miR-221 in regulating the biological behavior of OS cells. The proliferation ability was examined by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) and cell cycle assay. The abilities of cell migration, invasion, and apoptosis were monitored by transwell assay and flow cytometry, respectively. The effect of miR-221 on cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor 1B (CDKN1B) expression was evaluated by luciferase assays, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and Western blot analysis. We found that miR-221 was elevated in OS cell lines compared with the normal osteoblastic cell line. Transfection of the miR-221 inhibitor into MG63 and U-2OS cell lines obviously suppressed cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, which is accompanied with cell cycle arrest in G0/G1 phase. Furthermore, luciferase reporter assays indicated that CDKN1B is directly targeted by miR-221 in OS cells. Knockdown of CDKN1B inhibited the effects of miR-221 inhibitor, along with decreased Bax and caspase-3 and increased cyclin E, cyclin D1, Bcl-2, Snail, and Twist1 expression. The results suggested that miR-221 might act as a potentially useful target for treatment of OS.

ACTL6A interacts with p53 in acute promyelocytic leukemia cell lines to affect differentiation via the Sox2/Notch1 signaling pathway

Actin-like 6A (ACTL6A), a component of BAF chromatin remodeling complexes, is important for cell differentiation. Nevertheless, its role and mechanism in acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) has not been reported. To identify the genes that may participate in the development of APL, we analyzed data from an APL cDNA microarray (GSE12662) in the NCBI database, and found that ACTL6A was up-regulated in APL patients. Subsequently, we investigated the function and mechanisms of ACTL6A in myeloid cell development. The expression of ACTL6A was gradually decreased during granulocytic differentiation in all-trans retinoic acid-treated NB4 and HL-60 cells, and phorbol myristate acetate-treated HL-60 cells. We also found that knockdown of ACTL6A promoted differentiation in NB4 and HL-60 cells, and decreased the levels of Sox2 and Notch1. Mechanistically, ACTL6A interacted with and was co-localized with Sox2 and p53. Meanwhile, CBL0137, an activator of p53, decreased the expression of ACTL6A and promoted differentiation in NB4 and HL-60 cells. These findings suggest that the inhibition of ACTL6A promotes differentiation via the Sox2 and Notch1 signaling pathways. Furthermore, the differentiation promoted by inhibiting ACTL6A could be regulated by p53 via its physical interaction with ACTL6A.

Actin like-6A promotes glioma progression through stabilization of transcriptional regulators YAP/TAZ

Increased Actin-like 6A (ACTL6A) expression has been implicated in the development of diverse cancers and recently associated with the Hippo signaling pathway, which is known to regulate biological properties, including proliferation, tissue regeneration, stem cell biology, as well as tumorigenesis. Here we first show that ACTL6A is upregulated in human gliomas and its expression is associated with glioma patient survival. ACTL6A promotes malignant behaviors of glioma cells in vitro and in orthotopic xenograft model. In co-immunoprecipitation assays, we discover that ACTL6A physically associated with YAP/TAZ and furthermore disrupts the interaction between YAP and β-TrCP E3 ubiquitin ligase, which promotes YAP protein degradation. Moreover, effects of ACTL6A on glioma cells proliferation, migration, and invasion could be mediated by YAP/TAZ. These data indicate that ACTL6A may contribute to cancer progression by stabilizing YAP/TAZ and therefore provide a novel therapeutic target for the treatment of human gliomas.

The SWI/SNF complex subunit genes: Their functions, variations, and links to risk and survival outcomes in human cancers

SWI/SNF is a multiprotein complex essential for regulation of eukaryotic gene expression. In this article, we review the function and characteristics of this complex and its subunits in cancer-related phenotypes. We also present and discuss the publically available survival analysis data for TCGA patient cohorts, revealing novel relationships between the expression levels of the SWI/SNF subunit genes and patient survival times in several cancers. Overall, multiple lines of research point to a wide-spread role for the SWI/SNF complex genes in human cancer susceptibility and patient survival times. Examples include the mutations in ARID1A with cancer-driving effects, associations of tumor SWI/SNF gene expression levels and patient survival times, and two BRM promoter region polymorphisms linked to risk or patient outcomes in multiple human cancers. These findings should motivate comprehensive studies in order to fully dissect these relationships and verify the potential clinical utility of the SWI/SNF genes in controlling cancer.

BAF53a is a potential prognostic biomarker and promotes invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of glioma cells

Increasing evidence indicates that BAF53a is crucial for embryonic development and maintenance of stemness, and may be associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), which suggests its involvement in cancer progression. However, the role of BAF53a in glioma remains unknown. In the present study, BAF53a was found to be highly expressed in glioma tissues and was associated with poor overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) in glioma patients. A multivariate Cox regression analysis revealed that BAF53a might be an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS in glioma patients. Further functional analysis indicated that BAF53a overexpression could promote proliferation and increase the motility and invasion of U87 glioma cells, whereas BAF53a knockdown had the opposite effect. In addition, BAF53a expression was associated with the levels of E‑cadherin and vimentin expression in glioma tissues. This was further confirmed in U87 cells expressing different levels of BAF53a; BAF53a overexpression was concomitant with decreased E‑cadherin and increased vimentin expression, whereas BAF53a knockdown showed the opposite pattern of expression. Taken together, these results suggest that BAF53a may be a novel prognostic factor for glioma patients, and that BAF53 may facilitate glioma progression by promoting proliferation, invasion, and associate with EMT. Therefore, BAF53a could be a potential promising biomarker and a target for the treatment of glioma.