Targeting hexokinase 2 increases the sensitivity of oxaliplatin by Twist1 in colorectal cancer

Yuan‐Yuan Shi,Zhao‐Xia Dong,Miao Li,Sze‐Hoi Chan,Xue‐Qi Liu,Zhi‐Ying Mai,Li‐Yuan Zheng,Xing‐Ding Zhang,Li‐Zhi Deng,Xin‐Rong Shao,Tian‐Liang Fang,Bo Zhang,Shu‐Na Chen,Di‐Sheng Zhou

doi:10.1111/jcmm.16842

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most malignant tumour worldwide, with high mortality and recurrence. Chemoresistance is one of the main factors leading to metastasis and poor prognosis in advanced CRC patients. By analysing the Gene Expression Omnibus data set, we found higher hexokinase 2 (HK2) expression levels in patients with metastatic CRC than in those with primary CRC. Moreover, we observed higher enrichment in oxaliplatin resistance‐related gene sets in metastatic CRC than in primary CRC. However, the underlying relationship has not yet been elucidated. In our study, HK2 expression was significantly elevated in CRC patients. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) revealed multi‐drug resistance and epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) pathways related to high HK2 expression. Our results showed that knockdown of HK2 significantly inhibited vimentin and Twist1 expression and promoted TJP1 and E‐cadherin expression in CRC cells. Additionally, transcriptional and enzymatic inhibition of HK2 by 3‐bromopyruvate (3‐bp) impaired oxaliplatin resistance in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, HK2 interacts with and stabilized Twist1 by preventing its ubiquitin‐mediated degradation, which is related to oxaliplatin resistance, in CRC cells. Overexpression of Twist1 reduced the apoptosis rate by HK2 knockdown in CRC cells. Collectively, we discovered that HK2 is a crucial regulator that mediates oxaliplatin resistance through Twist1. These findings identify HK2 and Twist1 as promising drug targets for CRC chemoresistance.

Highlights

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignant tumour worldwide and has high metastasis and recurrence rates.[1]
We found that high hexokinase 2 (HK2) expression is related to epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) progression and drug resistance in samples from the COAD cohort of TCGA
We demonstrated that HK2 increased mesenchymal-like protein expression and decreased oxaliplatin sensitivity by interacting with Twist[1] in CRC cells

Summary

| INTRODUCTION

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common malignant tumour worldwide and has high metastasis and recurrence rates.[1] Approximately 60% of CRC patients develop liver metastasis, which is the major cause of CRC-related mortality.[2] chemotherapy has been developed for patients with advanced disease, intrinsic or acquired resistance to oxaliplatin-based combinations is still the major cause of treatment failure.[3] it is essential to investigate the chemoresistance mechanism to improve CRC treatment. Our work reveals a previously unrecognized mechanism of HK2 in CRC by promoting EMT and chemoresistance through the regulation of Twist[1]

| MATERIALS AND METHODS

| RESULTS

Findings

| DISCUSSION