Ye Hui, Duan Meiling
Department of Galactophore, Linyi Central Hospital of Shandong, Linyi, 276400, China.
Department of Respiratory One, Linyi Central Hospital of Shandong, Linyi, 276400, China,
Cancer Manag Res. 2019 Jan 4;11:525-535. doi: 10.2147/CMAR.S176938. eCollection 2019.
Forkhead box (FOX) N2 (FOXN2), a member of FOX protein family, has been reported to play critical roles in some types of cancers. However, the expression and function of FOXN2 in breast cancer remain unclear.
In the present work, we explored the detailed molecular mechanism of FOXN2 in breast cancer. We performed RT-qPCR and Western blotting analysis to detect the expression of FOXN2 in breast cancer. Colony formation assay, CCK-8 assay, wound healing assay, and Transwell assay were used to determine the effect of FOXN2 on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in breast cancer.
Our results demonstrated that FOXN2 was downregulated in breast cancer tissues and cell lines. Downregulation of FOXN2 was correlated with tumor size, pathological grade, and lymph node metastasis. The in vitro experiments revealed that the ectopic expression of FOXN2 significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness of breast cancer cells, and inhibition of FOXN2 promoted the proliferation, migration, and invasiveness of breast cancer cells. Moreover, inhibition of FOXN2 facilitated epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) through regulation of SLUG.
Taken together, our results showed for the first time that FOXN2 plays an essential role in cell proliferation and invasion. Thus, FOXN2 may be an attractive therapeutic target for the treatment of breast cancer.
叉头框(FOX)N2(FOXN2)是FOX蛋白家族的成员,据报道在某些类型的癌症中发挥关键作用。然而,FOXN2在乳腺癌中的表达和功能仍不清楚。
在本研究中,我们探讨了FOXN2在乳腺癌中的详细分子机制。我们进行了RT-qPCR和蛋白质免疫印迹分析以检测FOXN2在乳腺癌中的表达。采用集落形成试验、CCK-8试验、伤口愈合试验和Transwell试验来确定FOXN2对乳腺癌细胞增殖、迁移和侵袭的影响。
我们的结果表明,FOXN2在乳腺癌组织和细胞系中表达下调。FOXN2的下调与肿瘤大小、病理分级和淋巴结转移相关。体外实验表明,FOXN2的异位表达显著抑制乳腺癌细胞的增殖、迁移和侵袭能力,而抑制FOXN2则促进乳腺癌细胞的增殖、迁移和侵袭能力。此外,抑制FOXN2通过调节SLUG促进上皮-间质转化(EMT)。
综上所述,我们的结果首次表明FOXN2在细胞增殖和侵袭中起重要作用。因此,FOXN2可能是治疗乳腺癌的一个有吸引力的治疗靶点。