Abstract
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx. Infinite proliferation and distant metastasis are the main characteristics of NPC cells, and the main reason for the current failure of malignant tumor treatment. In this study, by integrating the immunohistochemical, cell transfection, western blot and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, we observed that the expression of KISS1 and its receptor gene (KISS1R) negatively related with the proliferation of NPC cells. Overexpression of the KISS1 genes in cells reduced cell proliferation, slow down the cell cycle, and increased apoptosis. Additionally, overexpression of these genes significantly increased Liver Kinase B1 (LKB1), phosphorylation of LKB1 and AMPK, indicated by Western blotting. Together, all of these results suggested for the first time that KISS1 and KISS1R suppress the proliferation of NPC cells by activating the LKB1/AMPK pathway, thus revealing a viable indicator for diagnosis of NPC in clinical practice.
Highlights
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx, which is a common malignant tumor of the head and neck, accounting for about 78% of all head and neck cancers [1]
We found that Kiss1 and Kiss1R were lowly expressed in squamous cell carcinoma tissues and highly expressed in nonkeratinizing squamous cell carcinoma tissues by immunohistochemistry (Figure 1A)
The reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis revealed that compared with well differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, such as CNE-1 cells and HK-1 cells, the mRNA of KISS1 and KISS1 and its receptor gene (KISS1R) were lowly expressed in poorly differentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells, such as HNE1 cells and 5-8F cells (Figure 1B)
Summary
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a cancer that occurs in the nasopharynx, which is a common malignant tumor of the head and neck, accounting for about 78% of all head and neck cancers [1]. NPC affects ∼0.025 to 0.05% of the world’s population, and the incidence of this malignancy is higher in Southern China and Southeast Asia than any other place [2]. The incidence of NPC is concealed, the degree of malignancy is high, and metastasis and recurrence are prone to occur [3]. Platinum-based chemotherapy is a common treatment [4, 5], but a certain proportion of patients with advanced NPC are not ideal [6, 7]. The proliferation of tumor cells affects the prognosis and survival of patients, so inhibiting
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