CALM1 promotes progression and dampens chemosensitivity to EGFR inhibitor in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Tao Liu,Shutao Zheng,Qiqi Zhang,Xiujuan Han,Lifei Yang,Aerziguli Tuerxun,Qing Liu,Xiaomei Lu

doi:10.1186/s12935-021-01801-6

Abstract

BackgroundCalmodulin1 (CALM1) has been identified as one of the overexpression genes in a variety of cancers and EGFR inhibitor have been widely used in clinical treatment but it is unknown whether CALM1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have a synergistic effect in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The aim of the present study was to explore the synergistic effects of knock-out CALM1 combined with EGFR inhibitor (Afatinib) and to elucidate the role of CALM1 in sensitizing the resistance to Afatinib in ESCC.MethodImmunohistochemistry (IHC) and qRT-PCR were used to examine the expression of CALM1 and EGFR in ESCC tissues. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis was used to analyze the clinical and prognostic significance of CALM1 and EGFR expression in ESCC. Furthermore, to evaluate the biological function of CALM1 in ESCC, the latest gene editing technique CRISPR/Cas9(Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)was applied to knockout CALM1 in ESCC cell lines KYSE150, Eca109 and TE-1. MTT, flow cytometry, Transwell migration, scratch wound-healing and colony formation assays were performed to assay the combined effect of knock-out CALM1 and EGFR inhibitor on ESCC cell proliferation and migration. In addition, nude mice xenograft model was used to observe the synergistic inhibition of knock-out CALM1 and Afatinib.ResultsBoth CALM1 and EGFR were found to be significantly over-expressed in ESCC compared with paired normal control. Over-expressed CALM1 and EGFR were significantly associated with clinical stage, T classification and poor overall prognosis, respectively. In vitro, the combined effect of knock-out CALM1 mediated by the lentivirus and EGFR inhibitor was shown to be capable of inhibiting the proliferation, inducing cell cycle arrest at G1/S stage and increasing apoptosis of KYSE-150 and Eca109 cells; invasion and migration were also suppressed. In vivo, the results of tumor weight and total fluorescence were markedly reduced compared with the sgCtrl-infected group and sgCAML1 group.ConclusionOur data demonstrated that knock-out of CALM1 could sensitize ESCC cells to EGFR inhibitor, and it may exert oncogenic role via promotion of EMT. Taken together, CALM1 may be a tempting target to overcome Afatinib resistance.

Highlights

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal tract malignancies and ranks as the sixth most important cause of cancer mortalities globally, with an incidence of estimated 509,000 new deaths every yearLiu et al Cancer Cell Int (2021) 21:121[1, 2]
The combined effect of knock-out CALM1 mediated by the lentivirus and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitor was shown to be capable of inhibiting the proliferation, inducing cell cycle arrest at G1/S stage and increasing apoptosis of KYSE-150 and Eca109 cells; invasion and migration were suppressed
Our data demonstrated that knock-out of CALM1 could sensitize esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells to EGFR inhibitor, and it may exert oncogenic role via promotion of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)

Summary

Introduction

Esophageal cancer (EC) is one of the most common gastrointestinal tract malignancies and ranks as the sixth most important cause of cancer mortalities globally, with an incidence of estimated 509,000 new deaths every yearLiu et al Cancer Cell Int (2021) 21:121[1, 2]. Specific cells can express these three genes, they do not necessarily all have the same functional roles because the three transcripts can be differentially processed by posttranscriptional regulation or subcellular distribution [13]. CALM/Ca2+ binding to the SH2 domains of the p85 subunit of PI3Kα stimulates PI3Kα/Akt/mTOR signaling, and thereby regulating cell proliferation and growth [18, 19]. CALM regulated EGFR’s tyrosine kinase activity [20] which activates Ras and PI3Kα and has essential roles in programmed cell death and autophagy [18]. Calmodulin (CALM1) has been identified as one of the overexpression genes in a variety of cancers and EGFR inhibitor have been widely used in clinical treatment but it is unknown whether CALM1 and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have a synergistic effect in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). The aim of the present study was to explore the synergistic effects of knock-out CALM1 combined with EGFR inhibitor (Afatinib) and to elucidate the role of CALM1 in sensitizing the resistance to Afatinib in ESCC

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Conclusion