Abstract
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal gastrointestinal malignancies with high mortality. Recurrence develops within only a few years after curative resection and perioperative adjuvant therapy in 30–50% of these patients. Therefore, it is essential to identify postoperative recurrence biomarkers to facilitate selecting the following surveillance and therapeutic strategies. The general transcription factor IIE subunit beta (GTF2E2) is crucial for physiological and pathological functions, but its roles in the aggression and recurrence of ESCC remain ambiguous. In this study, we found that GTF2E2 was highly expressed in ESCC samples, and elevated GTF2E2 expression predicted early recurrence after surgery for ESCC patients. High expression of GTF2E2 associated with more aggressive clinic features and poor prognosis. GTF2E2 promoted the proliferation and mobility of ESCC cells in vitro and in vivo. We further revealed that miR-139-5p repressed GTF2E2 expression by downregulating its mRNA through binding with Argonaute 2 (Ago2). Rescue assays suggested that miR-139-5p affected GTF2E2-mediated ESCC progression. Moreover, GTF2E2 positively interacted with FUS promoter and regulated FUS expression, and the phenotype changes caused by GTF2E2 manipulation were recovered by rescuing FUS expression in ESCC cells. Additionally, we demonstrated that GTF2E2 promotes ESCC cells progression via activation of the AKT/ERK/mTOR pathway. In conclusion, GTF2E2 may serve as a novel biomarker for recurrence after surgery and a potential therapeutic target for ESCC patients, and it promotes ESCC progression via miR-139-5p/GTF2E2/FUS axis.
Highlights
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal gastrointestinal malignancies and is the primary cause of cancer-related death in China [1,2,3]
Surgical resection is still the mainstay treatment for potentially curable esophageal cancer, most tumors recurred within 1 year after surgery, which highlights the significance of exploring promising biomarkers for early detection of recurrence [31,32,33]
Our study presents a novel insight into GTF2E2’s potential function as a postoperative recurrence marker in the ESCC
Summary
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the most lethal gastrointestinal malignancies and is the primary cause of cancer-related death in China [1,2,3]. The reduction of FUS expression was observed in the tumor xenografts derived from Eca-109 and KYSE150 cells with GTF2E2 downregulation, and the opposite trend was found in the tumor xenografts derived from TE-1 cells with GTF2E2 upregulation (Fig. S5A) These suggesting that FUS played a vital role in GTF2E2-mediated ESCC growth. In Eca-109 and KYSE-150 cells, western blot analysis showed that FUS downregulation or upregulation restored the changes in the phosphorylation level of AKT, ERK, and mTOR induced by GTF2E2 overexpression or knockdown (Fig. S6A, B). These results confirmed that GTF2E2 promotes ESCC progression through FUS
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