Truncated Lactoferricin peptide controls cervical cancer cell proliferation via lncRNA-NKILA/NF-κB feedback loop

BACKGROUND

Lactoferricin peptide (LP) has been reported to control cancer cell proliferation. NF-κB interacting lncRNA (NKILA) is a tumor suppressor in several cancers.

OBJECTIVE

We aimed to explore the potential function of the truncated LP (TLP) in the prevention of cervical cancer cell proliferation.

METHODS

Bioinformatics analysis via PPA-Pred2 showed that 18-aa N-terminus of truncated lactoferricin peptide (TLP18, FKCRRWQWRMKKLGAPSI) shows higher affinity with nuclear factor kappaB (NF-κB) than LP. The effects of LP and TLP18 on cervical cancer cells SiHa and HeLa and the related mechanisms were explored by investigating NF-κB and lncRNA-NKILA.

RESULTS

TLP18 shows an inhibitory rate up to 0.4-fold higher than LP on the growth of cervical cancer cells (P<0.05). NKILA siRNA promoted cell growth whether LP or TLP18 treatment (P<0.05). TLP18 treatment increases the level of lncRNA-NKILA and reduces the level of NF-κB up to 0.2-fold and 0.6-fold higher than LP (P<0.05), respectively. NKILA siRNA increased the levels of NF-κB, cleaved caspase-3, and BAX (P<0.05). TLP18 increased apoptotic cell rate up to 0.2-fold higher than LP, while NKILA siRNA inhibited cell apoptosis cell growth even LP or TLP18 treatment.

CONCLUSION

Truncated Lactoferricin peptide controls cervical cancer cell proliferation via lncRNA-NKILA/NF-κB feedback loop.

NKILA, a prognostic indicator, inhibits tumor metastasis by suppressing NF-κB/Slug mediated epithelial-mesenchymal transition in hepatocellular carcinoma

The metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the major obstacles hindering its therapeutic efficacy, leading to low surgical resection rate, high mortality and poor prognosis. Accumulating evidence has shown that both long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) and NF-κB play vital roles in the regulation of cancer metastasis. However, the clinical significance and biological function of NKILA (NF-κB interacting lncRNA) and its interaction with NF-κB in HCC remain unknown. In this study, we demonstrated that NKILA was down-regulated in HCC tissues and cell lines, and decreased NKILA expression was significantly associated with larger tumor size and positive vascular invasion in HCC patients. NKILA reduction was an independent risk factor of HCC patients' poor prognosis, and the 5-year overall survival (OS) rates of patients with low and high NKILA expression were 15.6% and 60.0%, respectively. Moreover, NKILA inhibits migration and invasion of HCC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, NKILA prevents Slug/epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathway via suppressing phosphorylation of IκBα, p65 nuclear translocation and NF-κB activation. In conclusion, these results indicate that NKILA might serve as an effective prognostic biomarker and a promising therapeutic target against HCC metastasis.

The long non-coding RNA NKILA inhibits the invasion-metastasis cascade of malignant melanoma via the regulation of NF-ĸB

The long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) NKILA has been reported to participate in the development of human cancers. The purpose of this study was to explore the potential role of lncRNA-NKILA, which acts through NF-ĸB, in the process of melanoma development. Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) showed that NKILA was expressed at low levels in human melanoma tissues. The area under the ROC curve of NKILA was 0.875, which indicated that NKILA may be a potential diagnostic biomarker of melanoma. Our results also indicated that NKILA inhibited the progression of cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promoted apoptosis of melanoma cells. Furthermore, qRT-PCR showed that NF-κB, which was negatively correlated with NKILA, was highly expressed in human melanoma tissues. Moreover, our results indicated that NKILA inhibited the carcinogenesis of melanoma cells through the inhibition of NF-ĸB in vitro. More importantly, we found that NKILA suppressed the growth of melanoma tumors via NF-ĸB in vivo. In conclusion, NKILA suppressed the development of malignant melanoma via the regulation of NF-ĸB and may be a potential therapeutic target in patients with melanoma.