Department of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, China.
Department of Postgraduate Office, Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, 410013, China.
J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2020 Aug 24;39(1):166. doi: 10.1186/s13046-020-01674-z.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial cancer emerging from the lining of nasopharyngeal mucosa, with extremely frequent occurrence in east and southeast Asia. For the purpose of exploring roles of the dysregulated long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) in NPC, we identified a novel lncRNA LINC00669 with an apparent negative correlation to the overall survival from human NPC mRNA expression profiling databases. We further performed RNA pulldown coupled with mass spectrum to find out its target protein, and applied a series of in vitro and in vivo loss-and-gain-of function assays to investigate its oncogenic roles in NPC tumor development and progression. Our results demonstrated that LINC00669 competitively binds to the key JAK/STAT signaling pathway suppressor SOCS1, and insulates it from imposing ubiquitination modification on the pathway component of STAT1, which leads to its abnormal stabilization and activation. The activated STAT1 is then transferred into the nucleus and initiates the transcription of genes related to proliferation and invasion. In summary, our study reveals that the cytoplasmic resident lncRNA LINC00669 confers malignant properties on NPC cancer cells by facilitating a persistent activation of the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Findings in the current study shed lights on prospects for treating NPC using strategies targeting the novel regulator of the JAK/STAT signaling.
鼻咽癌(NPC)是一种源自鼻咽黏膜上皮的癌症,在东亚和东南亚极其常见。为了探索失调的长非编码 RNA(lncRNA)在 NPC 中的作用,我们从人类 NPC mRNA 表达谱数据库中鉴定出一种与总体生存率明显负相关的新型 lncRNA LINC00669。我们进一步进行了 RNA 下拉实验,并结合质谱分析找到了其靶蛋白,然后应用一系列体外和体内缺失和获得功能实验来研究其在 NPC 肿瘤发生和发展中的致癌作用。我们的结果表明,LINC00669 竞争性地与关键的 JAK/STAT 信号通路抑制剂 SOCS1 结合,并将其从对 STAT1 通路成分的泛素化修饰中隔离出来,导致其异常稳定和激活。激活的 STAT1 随后进入细胞核并启动与增殖和侵袭相关的基因转录。总之,我们的研究表明,细胞质驻留的 lncRNA LINC00669 通过促进 JAK/STAT 信号通路的持续激活,赋予 NPC 癌细胞恶性特性。本研究的结果为使用针对 JAK/STAT 信号新调节剂的策略治疗 NPC 提供了前景。