The TßRI promotes migration and metastasis through thrombospondin 1 and ITGAV in prostate cancer cells.

TGFß potently modifies the extracellular matrix (ECM), which is thought to favor tumor cell invasion. However, the mechanism whereby the cancer cells employ the ECM proteins to facilitate their motility is largely unknown. In this study we used RNA-seq and proteomic analysis to examine the proteins secreted by castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) cells upon TGFß treatment and found that thrombospondin 1 (THBS1) was observed to be one of the predominant proteins. The CRISPR Cas9, or siRNA techniques was used to downregulate TGFß type I receptor (TßRI) to interfere with TGFß signaling in various cancer cells in vitro. The interaction of ECM proteins with the TßRI in the migratory prostate cancer cells in response to TGFß1 was demonstrated by several different techniques to reveal that THBS1 mediates cell migration by interacting with integrin subunit alpha V (ITGAV) and TßRI. Deletion of TßRI or THBS1 in cancer cells prevented their migration and invasion. THBS1 belongs to a group of tumorigenic ECM proteins induced via TGFß signaling in CRPC cells, and high expression of THBS1 in human prostate cancer tissues correlated with the degree of malignancy. TGFß-induced production of THBS1 through TßRI facilitates the invasion and metastasis of CRPC cells as shown in vivo xenograft animal experiments.

Combined Transcriptomic and Protein Array Cytokine Profiling of Human Stem Cells from Dental Apical Papilla Modulated by Oral Bacteria.

Stem cells from the apical papilla (SCAP) are a promising resource for use in regenerative endodontic treatment (RET) that may be adversely affected by oral bacteria, which in turn can exert an effect on the success of RET. Our work aims to study the cytokine profile of SCAP upon exposure to oral bacteria and their supernatants-Fusobacterium nucleatum and Enterococcus faecalis-as well as to establish their effect on the osteogenic and immunogenic potentials of SCAP. Further, we target the presence of key proteins of the Wnt/ß-Catenin, TGF-ß, and NF-κB signaling pathways, which play a crucial role in adult osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, using the Western blot (WB) technique. The membrane-based sandwich immunoassay and transcriptomic analysis showed that, under the influence of F. nucleatum (both bacteria and supernatant), the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6, IL-8, and MCP-1 occurred, which was also confirmed at the mRNA level. Conversely, E. faecalis reduced the secretion of the aforementioned cytokines at both mRNA and protein levels. WB analysis showed that SCAP co-cultivation with E. faecalis led to a decrease in the level of the key proteins of the Wnt/ß-Catenin and NF-κB signaling pathways: ß-Catenin (p = 0.0068 *), LRP-5 (p = 0.0059 **), and LRP-6 (p = 0.0329 *), as well as NF-kB (p = 0.0034 **) and TRAF6 (p = 0.0285 *). These results suggest that oral bacteria can up- and downregulate the immune and inflammatory responses of SCAP, as well as influence the osteogenic potential of SCAP, which may negatively regulate the success of RET.

Interactions between TGF-ß type I receptor and hypoxia-inducible factor-α mediates a synergistic crosstalk leading to poor prognosis for patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma.

To investigate the significance of expression of HIF-1α, HIF-2α, and SNAIL1 proteins; and TGF-ß signaling pathway proteins in ccRCC, their relation with clinicopathological parameters and patient's survival were examined. We also investigated potential crosstalk between HIF-α and TGF-ß signaling pathway, including the TGF-ß type 1 receptor (ALK5-FL) and the intracellular domain of ALK5 (ALK5-ICD). Tissue samples from 154 ccRCC patients and comparable adjacent kidney cortex samples from 38 patients were analyzed for HIF-1α/2α, TGF-ß signaling components, and SNAIL1 proteins by immunoblot. Protein expression of HIF-1α and HIF-2α were significantly higher, while SNAIL1 had similar expression levels in ccRCC compared with the kidney cortex. HIF-2α associated with poor cancer-specific survival, while HIF-1α and SNAIL1 did not associate with survival. Moreover, HIF-2α positively correlated with ALK5-ICD, pSMAD2/3, and PAI-1; HIF-1α positively correlated with pSMAD2/3; SNAIL1 positively correlated with ALK5-FL, ALK5-ICD, pSMAD2/3, PAI-1, and HIF-2α. Intriguingly, in vitro experiments performed under normoxic conditions revealed that ALK5 interacts with HIF-1α and HIF-2α, and promotes their expression and the expression of their target genes GLUT1 and CA9, in a VHL dependent manner. We found that ALK5 induces expression of HIF-1α and HIF-2α, through its kinase activity. Under hypoxic conditions, HIF-α proteins correlated with the activated TGF-ß signaling pathway. In conclusion, we reveal that ALK5 plays a pivotal role in synergistic crosstalk between TGF-ß signaling and hypoxia pathway, and that the interaction between ALK5 and HIF-α contributes to tumor progression.

TRAF6 function as a novel co-regulator of Wnt3a target genes in prostate cancer.

BACKGROUND: Tumour necrosis factor receptor associated factor 6 (TRAF6) promotes inflammation in response to various cytokines. Aberrant Wnt3a signals promotes cancer progression through accumulation of ß-Catenin. Here we investigated a potential role for TRAF6 in Wnt signaling. METHODS: TRAF6 expression was silenced by siRNA in human prostate cancer (PC3U) and human colorectal SW480 cells and by CRISPR/Cas9 in zebrafish. Several biochemical methods and analyses of mutant phenotype in zebrafish were used to analyse the function of TRAF6 in Wnt signaling. FINDINGS: Wnt3a-treatment promoted binding of TRAF6 to the Wnt co-receptors LRP5/LRP6 in PC3U and LNCaP cells in vitro. TRAF6 positively regulated mRNA expression of ß-Catenin and subsequent activation of Wnt target genes in PC3U cells. Wnt3a-induced invasion of PC3U and SW480 cells were significantly reduced when TRAF6 was silenced by siRNA. Database analysis revealed a correlation between TRAF6 mRNA and Wnt target genes in patients with prostate cancer, and high expression of LRP5, TRAF6 and c-Myc correlated with poor prognosis. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to silence TRAF6 in zebrafish, we confirm TRAF6 as a key molecule in Wnt3a signaling for expression of Wnt target genes. INTERPRETATION: We identify TRAF6 as an important component in Wnt3a signaling to promote activation of Wnt target genes, a finding important for understanding mechanisms driving prostate cancer progression. FUND: KAW 2012.0090, CAN 2017/544, Swedish Medical Research Council (2016-02513), Prostatacancerförbundet, Konung Gustaf V:s Frimurarestiftelse and Cancerforskningsfonden Norrland. The funders did not play a role in manuscript design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation nor writing of the manuscript.