Center for Molecular Biology of Oral Diseases, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.
Int J Cancer. 2010 Aug 1;127(3):505-12. doi: 10.1002/ijc.25320.
Tumor metastasis is the dominant cause of death in cancer patients, including patients with oral tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC). Previously, we reported that reduced miR-138 level is correlated with enhanced metastatic potential in TSCC cells. Here, we demonstrate that miR-138 suppresses TSCC cell migration and invasion by regulating 2 key genes in the Rho GTPase signaling pathway: RhoC and ROCK2. Direct targeting of miR-138 to specific sequences located in the 3'-untranslated regions of both RhoC and ROCK2 mRNAs was confirmed using luciferase reporter gene assays. Ectopic transfection of miR-138 reduced the expression of both RhoC and ROCK2 in TSCC cells. These reduced expressions, in consequence, led to the reorganization of the stress fibers and the subsequent cell morphology change to a round bleb-like shape as well as the suppression of cell migration and invasion. In contrast, knockdown of miR-138 in TSCC cells enhanced the expression of RhoC and ROCK2, which resulted in an altered, elongated cell morphology, enhanced cell stress fiber formation and accelerated cell migration and invasion. Taken together, our results suggest that miR-138 plays an important role in TSCC cell migration and invasion by concurrently targeting RhoC and ROCK2, and miR-138 may serve as a novel therapeutic target for TSCC patients at risk of metastatic disease.
肿瘤转移是癌症患者死亡的主要原因,包括口腔舌鳞状细胞癌(TSCC)患者。此前,我们报道 miR-138 水平降低与 TSCC 细胞转移潜能增强有关。在这里,我们证明 miR-138 通过调节 Rho GTPase 信号通路中的 2 个关键基因 RhoC 和 ROCK2 来抑制 TSCC 细胞的迁移和侵袭。通过荧光素酶报告基因检测证实了 miR-138 对 RhoC 和 ROCK2 mRNA 3'非翻译区特定序列的直接靶向作用。外源性转染 miR-138 可降低 TSCC 细胞中 RhoC 和 ROCK2 的表达。这些表达的降低导致应力纤维的重排,随后细胞形态发生变化,呈圆形泡状,并抑制细胞迁移和侵袭。相反,在 TSCC 细胞中敲低 miR-138 会增强 RhoC 和 ROCK2 的表达,导致细胞形态改变为拉长的形状,增强细胞应激纤维的形成,并加速细胞迁移和侵袭。综上所述,我们的研究结果表明,miR-138 通过同时靶向 RhoC 和 ROCK2 在 TSCC 细胞迁移和侵袭中发挥重要作用,miR-138 可能成为有转移疾病风险的 TSCC 患者的一种新的治疗靶点。
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