Abstract
BackgroundBreast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest female cancers, which is characterized with high incidence. Although treatments have been improved, the prognosis of BC patients in advanced stages remains unsatisfactory. Thus, exploration of the molecular mechanisms underneath BC progression is necessary to find novel therapeutic methods. Frizzled class receptor 2 (FZD2) belongs to Frizzled family, which has been proven to promote cell growth and invasion in various human cancers. The purpose of our current study was to detect the functions of FZD2 in BC and explore its underlying molecular mechanism.MethodsThe level of FZD2 was measured in BC tissues by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), western blot, immunohistochemistry (IHC), respectively. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation assay, transwell assays, wound healing assay and flow cytometry analyses were separately conducted to detect cell viability, invasion, migration, apoptosis and cell cycle distribution. The levels of Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) biomarkers were examined by using Immunofluorescence assay. Xenograft tumorigenicity assay was performed to assess the effect of FZD2 on tumor growth in vivo.ResultsFZD2 mRNA and protein expression was abundant in BC tissues. Moreover, high level of FZD2 had significant correlation with poor prognosis in BC patients. In vitro functional assays revealed that silencing of FZD2 had suppressive effects on BC cell growth, migration and invasion. Animal study further demonstrated that FZD2 silencing inhibited BC cell growth in vivo. In addition, FZD2 induced EMT process in BC cells in a transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-dependent manner. Mechanistically, knockdown of FZD2 led to the inactivation of Notch signaling pathway.ConclusionFZD2 facilitates BC progression and promotes TGF-β1-inudced EMT process through activating Notch signaling pathway.
Highlights
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest female cancers, which is characterized with high incidence
The present study focused on the functions of Frizzled class receptor 2 (FZD2) in BC progression and its regulatory effects on Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β1)-inudced epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and Notch signaling pathway
FZD2 is significantly upregulated in BC tissues and associated with poor prognosis According to UALCAN [25] dataset, FZD2 expression is associated with various tumors (Fig. 1a)
Summary
Breast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest female cancers, which is characterized with high incidence. Exploration of the molecular mechanisms underneath BC progression is necessary to find novel therapeutic methods. Frizzled class receptor 2 (FZD2) belongs to Frizzled family, which has been proven to promote cell growth and invasion in various human cancers. The purpose of our current study was to detect the functions of FZD2 in BC and explore its underlying molecular mechanism. Breast cancer (BC) is one of the commonest life-threatening female cancer types. Various treatments have been developed for BC patients, the effective therapeutic targets remain limited. Exploring the molecular mechanism underneath BC progression is of great significance to develop novel therapeutic strategies. Frizzled family proteins (FZDs, including FZD1FZD10) function as cell surface receptors of WNT signaling pathway. The mechanism of FZD2 underneath BC progression remains largely unknown
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