RESUMEN
This study explores the role of the transcription factor FOXM1 in the initiation and progression of oesophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Our findings reveal that FOXM1 is highly expressed in ESCC and correlates with the prognosis of the disease. The relationship between FOXM1 and asparagine synthetase (ASNS) is investigated, and the study demonstrates that FOXM1 activates ASNS, impacting the tumour stemness of ESCC. In this study, we reveal the association between FOXM1 and ESCC development, as well as FOXM1's promotion of migration and proliferation in ESCC cells. The study also highlights FOXM1's regulation of ASNS transcription and the functional role of ASNS in ESCC metastasis and growth. Furthermore, the study explores the impact of FOXM1 and ASNS on ESCC stemness and their potential implications for chemotherapy resistance.
Asunto(s)
Aspartatoamoníaco Ligasa , Movimiento Celular , Proliferación Celular , Progresión de la Enfermedad , Neoplasias Esofágicas , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago , Proteína Forkhead Box M1 , Regulación Neoplásica de la Expresión Génica , Humanos , Proteína Forkhead Box M1/metabolismo , Proteína Forkhead Box M1/genética , Aspartatoamoníaco Ligasa/genética , Aspartatoamoníaco Ligasa/metabolismo , Línea Celular Tumoral , Proliferación Celular/genética , Movimiento Celular/genética , Neoplasias Esofágicas/genética , Neoplasias Esofágicas/metabolismo , Neoplasias Esofágicas/patología , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago/genética , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago/patología , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago/metabolismo , Pronóstico , Animales , Ratones , Masculino , Resistencia a Antineoplásicos/genética , Femenino , Células Madre Neoplásicas/metabolismo , Células Madre Neoplásicas/patología , Ligasas de Carbono-Nitrógeno con Glutamina como Donante de Amida-NRESUMEN
Substantial evidence attests to the pivotal role of cancer stem cells (CSC) in both tumorigenesis and drug resistance. A member of the forkhead box (FOX) family, FOXC1, assumes significance in embryonic development and organogenesis. Furthermore, FOXC1 functions as an overexpressed transcription factor in various tumors, fostering proliferation, enhancing migratory capabilities, and promoting drug resistance, while maintaining stem-cell-like properties. Despite these implications, scant attention has been devoted to its role in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Our investigation revealed a pronounced upregulation of FOXC1 expression in ESCC, correlating with a poor prognosis. The downregulation of FOXC1 demonstrated inhibitory effects on ESCC tumorigenesis, proliferation, and tolerance to chemotherapeutic agents, concurrently reducing the levels of stemness-related markers CD133 and CD44. Further studies validated that FOXC1 induces ESCC stemness by transactivating CBX7 and IGF-1R. Additionally, IGF-1 activated the PI3K/AKT/NF-κB and MEK/ERK/NF-κB pathways through its binding to IGF-1R, thereby augmenting FOXC1 expression. Conversely, suppressing FOXC1 impeded ESCC stemness induced by IGF-1. The presence of a positive feedback loop, denoted by IGF-1-FOXC1-IGF-1R, suggests the potential of FOXC1 as a prognostic biomarker for ESCC. Taken together, targeting the IGF-1-FOXC1-IGF-1R axis emerges as a promising approach for anti-CSC therapy in ESCC.
RESUMEN
Transcription factor 3 (TCF3) is a member of the basic Helix - Loop - Helix (bHLH) transcription factor (TF) family and is encoded by the TCF3 gene (also known as E2A). It has been shown that TCF3 functions as a key transcription factor in the pathogenesis of several human cancers and plays an important role in stem cell maintenance and carcinogenesis. However, the effect of TCF3 in the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is poorly known. In our study, TCF3 was found to express highly and correlated with cancer stage and prognosis. TCF3 was shown to promote ESCC invasion, migration, and drug resistance both from the results of in vivo and in vitro assays. Moreover, further studies suggested that TCF3 played these roles through transcriptionally regulating Inhibitor of DNA binding 1(ID1). Notably, we also found that TCF3 or ID1 was associated with ESCC stemness. Furthermore, TCF3 was correlated with the expression of cancer stemness markers CD44 and CD133. Therefore, maintaining cancer stemness might be the underlying mechanism that TCF3 transcriptionally regulated ID1 and further promoted ESCC progression and drug resistance.
Asunto(s)
Neoplasias Esofágicas , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago , Humanos , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico , Carcinogénesis , Neoplasias Esofágicas/genética , Carcinoma de Células Escamosas de Esófago/genética , Proteína 1 Inhibidora de la Diferenciación/genética , Factor de Transcripción 3 , Factores de TranscripciónRESUMEN
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is notorious for the rapid progression especially early tumor metastasis due to the unclear mechanism. Recently, ETV5 attracts much attention for its potential role as an oncogenic transcription factor involved in multiple cancers. However, no one reported the mechanism behind the association between ETV5 expression and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma progression. In this study, we found that ETV5 was upregulated in ESCC both from online database and our ESCC tissues and ETV5 was associated with tumor staging and prognosis. Knockdown of ETV5 or its downstream genes SKA1 and TRPV2 significantly suppress ESCC cells migration and invasion, respectively. Additionally, in vivo study showed knockdown of ETV5 inhibited tumor metastasis. Further experiments unveiled ETV5 could transcriptionally upregulate the expression of SKA1 and TRPV2 and further activate MMPs in ESCC progression. In conclusion, ETV5 was associated with ESCC tumor staging and ESCC prognosis clinically. ETV5 promoted metastasis of ESCC by activating MMPs through augmenting the transcription of SKA1 and TRPV2. ETV5 was likely to be a novel oncogene and therapeutic target in ESCC.