Lai SC, Phelps CA, Short AM, Dutta SM, Mu D. Thyroid transcription factor 1 enhances cellular
statin sensitivity via perturbing cholesterol metabolism.
Oncogene 2018;
37:3290-3300. [PMID:
29551766 PMCID:
PMC6003839 DOI:
10.1038/s41388-018-0174-7]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Revised: 01/03/2018] [Accepted: 01/20/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
We have discovered an unexpected connection between a critical lung development and cancer gene termed thyroid transcription factor 1 (TTF-1 also known as NKX2-1) and cholesterol metabolism. Our published work implicates that TTF-1 positively regulates miR-33a which is known to repress ATP-binding cassette transporter 1 (ABCA1) and thus its cholesterol efflux activity. We set out to demonstrate that a higher TTF-1 expression would presumably inhibit cholesterol efflux and consequently raise intracellular cholesterol level. Surprisingly, raising TTF-1 expression actually lowers intracellular cholesterol level, which, we believe, is attributed to a direct transactivation of ABCA1 by TTF-1. Subsequently, we show that lung cancer cells primed with a TTF-1-driven decrease of cholesterol were more vulnerable to simvastatin, a frequently prescribed cholesterol biosynthesis inhibitor. In view of the fact that pathologists routinely interrogate human lung cancers for TTF-1 immunopositivity to guide diagnosis and the prevalent use of statins, TTF-1 should be further investigated as a putative biomarker of lung cancer vulnerability to statins.
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