Role Of JWA Research Articles

JWA inhibits nicotine-induced lung cancer stemness and progression through CHRNA5/AKT-mediated JWA/SP1/CD44 axis

Cigarette smoking is an independent risk factor for lung cancer. Nicotine, as an addictive substance in tobacco and e-cigarettes, is known to promote tumor progression and metastasis despite being a non-carcinogen. As a tumor suppressor gene, JWA is widely involved in the inhibition of tumor growth and metastasis and the maintenance of cellular homeostasis, including in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, the role of JWA in nicotine-induced tumor progression remains unclear. Here, we reported for the first time that JWA was significantly downregulated in smoking-related lung cancer and associated with overall survival. Nicotine exposure reduced JWA expression in a dose-dependent manner. Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) analysis showed the tumor stemness pathway was enriched in smoking-related lung cancer, and JWA was negatively associated with stemness molecules CD44, SOX2, and CD133. JWA also inhibited nicotine-enhanced colony formation, spheroid formation, and EDU incorporation in lung cancer cells. Mechanically, nicotine downregulated JWA expression via the CHRNA5-mediated AKT pathway. Lower JWA expression enhanced CD44 expression through inhibition of ubiquitination-mediated degradation of Specificity Protein 1 (SP1). The in vivo data indicated that JAC4 through the JWA/SP1/CD44 axis inhibited nicotine-triggered lung cancer progression and stemness. In conclusion, JWA via down-regulating CD44 inhibited nicotine-triggered lung cancer cell stemness and progression. Our study may provide new insights to develop JAC4 for the therapy of nicotine-related cancers.

Effects of the JWA gene in the regulation of human breast cancer cells.

The present study aimed to investigate whether the JWA gene can regulate the proliferation, migration and invasion of human breast cancer cells through the MAPK signaling pathway. The role of JWA in proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis was investigated in the MDA‑MB‑231 human breast cancer cell line. Following transfection with JWA‑small interfering (si)RNA, the effect of JWA on apoptosis was assessed by Western blot analysis, proliferation was determined using Transwell chambers and cell migration and invasion were analyzed by transwell assay. The expression levels of extracellular signal‑regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, CSBP/RK/Mpk2 kinase (p38) and c‑Jun N‑terminal kinase (JNK) were detected using Western blot analysis in the siRNA and control groups. The expression of JWA in the breast cancer cells was significantly lower compared with the normal breast cells. Downregulation of JWA protein levels reduced the apoptosis and enhanced proliferation, migration and invasion of the MDA‑MB‑231 cells in vitro. The results of the Western blot analysis demonstrated that, compared with the control groups, the expression levels of phosphorylated (p‑)p38 decreased significantly in the JWA siRNA group. No significant changes were observed in the expression levels of p‑ERK1/2 or p‑JNK. Therefore, the JWA gene may regulate human breast cancer cells through the MAPK signaling pathway using different types of regulation.

JWA regulates human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and human esophageal cells through different mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways.

The aim of the present study was to investigate whether the JWA gene regulates the proliferation, migration and invasion of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) and normal human esophageal cell lines through mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signal transduction pathways. The role of JWA in proliferation, migration, invasion and apoptosis was investigated in the Eca109 human ESCC and HET-1A normal human esophageal cell lines via transfection with JWA-small interfering (si)RNA. Western blot analysis was conducted to observe the effect of JWA on apoptosis and the regulatory effect of JWA on proliferation was determined using a thiazolyl blue tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cellular migration and invasion were analyzed via a Transwell assay. In addition, the expression levels of extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2), c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and p38 MAPK following JWA-siRNA transfection were detected by western blot analysis and compared with those of untreated cells. The downregulation of JWA protein decreased apoptosis and increased the proliferation, migration and invasion of the Eca109 and HET-1A cell lines. In the Eca109 cell line, the expression levels of phosphorylated (p)-ERK1/2 and p-JNK, but not those of p-p38, decreased significantly in the JWA siRNA group compared with those in the control groups. However, in the HET-1A cell line, JWA-siRNA transfection significantly inhibited the expression of p-p38 and demonstrated no effect on the expression levels of p-ERK1/2 and p-JNK. In conclusion, the JWA gene may regulate the ESCC and human esophageal cell lines through MAPK signaling pathways via different regulatory mechanisms.

JWA inhibits melanoma angiogenesis by suppressing ILK signaling and is an independent prognostic biomarker for melanoma

Melanoma is the deadliest cutaneous malignancy because of its high incidence of metastasis. Melanoma growth and metastasis relies on sustained angiogenesis; therefore, inhibiting angiogenesis is a promising approach to treat metastatic melanoma. JWA is a novel microtubule-associated protein and our previous work revealed that JWA inhibited melanoma cell invasion and metastasis. However, the role of JWA in melanoma angiogenesis and the prognostic value are still unknown. Here, we report that JWA in melanoma cells significantly inhibited the tube formation of endothelial cells. In addition, JWA regulated integrin-linked kinase (ILK) through integrin αVβ3 and such regulation was achieved through the transcription factor Sp1. Notably, both in vitro and in vivo angiogenesis assays revealed that JWA dramatically suppressed melanoma angiogenesis by inhibiting ILK signaling. Furthermore, we examined the expression of JWA protein in a large set of melanocytic lesions (n = 505) at different stages by tissue microarray and found an inverse correlation between JWA expression and melanoma progression (P = 5 × 10(-6)). Importantly, reduced JWA expression was correlated with a poorer overall, and disease-specific 5 year survival of patients (P = 0.001 and 0.007, respectively). Multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that JWA was an independent prognostic marker for melanoma patients. Moreover, we found a significant negative correlation between JWA and ILK in melanoma biopsies, and their concomitant expression was closely correlated with melanoma patient survival (P = 0.004), further indicating the regulation of ILK expression by JWA is critical in melanoma. Taken together, our data highlight the function of JWA in melanoma angiogenesis and reveal the clinical prognostic value of JWA.

Abstract 3579: Prognostic and predictive role of JWA and XRCC1 expression in gastric cancer

Abstract Purpose: Polymorphisms in the DNA repair genes JWA and XRCC1 have recently been reported to increase susceptibility for gastric cancer, but the expression pattern and significance of these genes in gastric cancer is unknown. Experimental Design: Expression of JWA and XRCC1 were assessed by immunohistochemistry in three independent tissue microarray sets of gastric carcinoma (total n=1227), and paired adjacent non-tumoral tissues (n=80) with minimum five years follow-up time. Prognostic value of JWA and XRCC1 and of clinicopathologic factors, were evaluated in patients treated only with surgery. The predictive role of JWA and XRCC1 expression status in cases treated with adjuvant chemotherapy compared with surgery alone was analyzed. Results: JWA and XRCC1 protein levels were significantly downregulated in gastric cancer lesions compared with adjacent non-cancerous tissues (P < 0.001 for all correlations). Low tumoral JWA or XRCC1 expression significantly correlated with shorter overall survival (OS), as well as with clinicopathologic characteristics in patients without adjuvant treatment. Multivariate regression analysis showed that low JWA and XRCC1 expression, separately and together, were independent negative markers of OS. Adjuvant fluorouracil-leucovorin-oxaliplatin (FLO) significantly improved OS compared with surgery alone (log-rank test, P = 0.01), however, this effect was evident only in the JWA or XRCC1 low expression group (HR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.26-0.73; P = 0.002, and HR = 0.44; 95% CI = 0.26-0.75; P = 0.002, respectively). Conclusions: JWA and XRCC1 protein expression in tumor are novel candidate prognostic markers and predictive factors for benefit from adjuvant FLO chemotherapy in resectable human gastric carcinoma. Acknowledgements: This study was supported in part by the project funded by the Priority Academic Program Development (PAPD) of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30930080, 81001231), the Foundation of Cancer Center of Nanjing Medical University (08ZLKF08), and the Postdoctoral Science Foundation of China (20100481165). Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 103rd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2012 Mar 31-Apr 4; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2012;72(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3579. doi:1538-7445.AM2012-3579

JWA Sensitizes P-Glycoprotein-Mediated Drug-Resistant Choriocarcinoma Cells to Etoposide VIA JNK and Mitochondrial-Associated Signal Pathway

A major obstacle in cancer chemotherapy is the phenomenon of multidrug resistance (MDR), increased P-glycoprotein expression, and abnormal apoptotic processes that may contribute to MDR. Our previous studies demonstrated that JWA is a pro-apoptotic molecule and required for arsenic trioxide and all-trans-retinoic acid-induced cancer cell apoptosis. In this study, the role of JWA in mediating MDR during treatment of choriocarcinoma cells was examined. Data showed that JWA expression was reduced significantly by etoposide (VP16) in JAR MDR cells (JAR/VP16) compared to parent JAR cells. VP16-induced apoptosis in JAR cells was dependent upon the presence of JWA. Knockdown of JWA attenuated VP16-induced apoptosis, and was accompanied by significantly reduced caspase-9 activity and inhibition of JNK phosphorylation. Loss of mitochondrial transmembrane potential induced by VP16 was accompanied by higher JWA expression. JWA was also involved in downregulation of P-glycoprotein through JNK signal pathway. These results suggest that JWA may play an important role in the therapeutic responses to chemotherapeutic agents used to treat choriocarcinoma.

JWA as a Novel Molecule Involved in Oxidative Stress-Associated Signal Pathway in Myelogenous Leukemia Cells

Previous data showed that JWA might be a novel environmental responsive gene regulated by environmental stressors such as heat shock and oxidative stress. However, the molecular mechanism underlying JWA gene function involved in oxidative stress is still unknown. In this study, the potential role of JWA was further investigated in hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) induced DNA damage and cell apoptosis in K562 cells. Series of the oxidative stress models were established to observe if JWA was involved in DNA damage or cell apoptosis induced by H2O2 exposure. These results indicated that the inhibitory effect on K562 cells’ viability induced by H2O2 was concentration and time dependent. JWA was more sensitive to H2O2 (0.01 mmol/L) than the heat-shock proteins (hsp70 and hsp27), and its expression pattern was similar to that of hsp70. In addition, JWA, hsp70, hsp27, and p53 were overexpressed and the expression patterns of JWA, hsp70, and p53 were similar during cell apoptosis. H2O2 led to the cleavage and activation of procaspase-3. In conclusion, these results suggested that JWA might be an effective environmental responsive gene that functions as a parallel with hsp70 in oxidative stress-responsive pathways in K562 cells. Like hsp70, JWA might enhance intracellular defenses and function against H2O2-induced oxidative stress in leukemia cells. At the same time, JWA was involved in the p53-associated signal pathways of oxidative stress-induced apoptosis, which is also caspase-3 dependent. This work was partially supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (30170812, 30471430) and the National Key Basic Research and Development Project (973) (grant 2002CB512900).

The role of JWA in N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine induced human bronchial epithelial cell apoptosis

To investigate the role and possible mechanism of JWA in N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) induced human bronchial epithelial (HBE) cell apoptosis. The cell growth inhibition rate was detected by MTT, the cell apoptosis was measured by Hoechst staining, the expression of JWA protein was detected by Western blot, and the potential binding protein of JWA proximal promoter was detected by Southwestern assay. MNNG treatment of HBE cells for 24 hours induced apoptosis with significant dose-effect relationship and in this course the expression of JWA protein was elevated. The 2.0 microg/ml MNNG treated cells for 24 hours activated nuclear transcription factor expression that specifically bound to JWA proximal promoter. That MNNG treatment activates nuclear transcription factor binding to JWA proximal promoter may be involved in intracellular apoptosis associated signal pathway.

Role of JWA in acute promyelocytic leukemia cell differen- tiation and apoptosis triggered by retinoic acid, 12-tet- radecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and arsenic trioxide

JWA, a cytoskeleton associated gene, was primarily found to be regulated by all trans-retinoic acid (ATRA), 13 cis-retinoic acid (13 cis-RA) and 12-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Our previous data showed that JWA might be involved in both cellular differentiation and apoptosis induced by several chemicals. In this study, we addressed the possible mechanism of JWA in the regulation of cell differentiation and apoptosis in NB4, a human acute promyelocytic leukemia cell line. CD11b/CD33 expression and cell cycle were analyzed for detecting of cell differentiation and apoptosis. Both reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blot assays were used for understanding the expressions of JWA. The results showed that under the indicated concentrations ATRA (10−6 mol/L) and AS2O3 (10−6 mol/L) induced cell differentiation and apoptosis separately; while both 4HPR (10−6 mol/L) and TPA (10−7 mol/L) showed dual-directional effects on NB4 cells, they not only trigger cells’ differentiation but also induce cells apoptosis at the same time. All chemicals up-regulated JWA expression whatever they trigger cells either differentiation or apoptosis; however, it seems that the chemicals have no effect on PML/RARα in the treated NB4 cells. Anti-sense JWA oligonucleotide could partially block the ability of TPA in inducing cell differentiation and apoptosis via direct signal pathway. Interestingly, a high molecular weight JWA protein (JWAF) was identified only in de novo primary APL cells and it was also responsible for ATRA treatment. It raises questions of whether the JWAF is a novel APL specific marker and, how it was involved in the known mechanism of APL.