Department of Oral Bioscience, Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima, 770-8504, Japan.
Oral Health Care Promotion, Tokushima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tokushima, 770-8504, Japan.
Sci Rep. 2021 Jul 22;11(1):14943. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-94384-1.
The ability of cancer cells to undergo partial-epithelial mesenchymal transition (p-EMT), rather than complete EMT, poses a higher metastatic risk. Although Fusobacterium nucleatum mainly inhabits in oral cavity, attention has been focused on the F. nucleatum involvement in colorectal cancer development. Here we examined the p-EMT regulation by F. nucleatum in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells. We cultured OSCC cells with epithelial, p-EMT or EMT phenotype with live or heat-inactivated F. nucleatum. Expression of the genes involved in epithelial differentiation, p-EMT and EMT were examined in OSCC cells after co-culture with F. nucleatum by qPCR. Cell growth and invasion of OSCC cells were also examined. Both live and heat-inactivated F. nucleatum upregulated the expression of p-EMT-related genes in OSCC cells with epithelial phenotype, but not with p-EMT or EMT phenotype. Moreover, F. nucleatum promoted invasion of OSCC cells with epithelial phenotype. Co-culture with other strains of bacteria other than Porphyromonas gingivalis did not alter p-EMT-related genes in OSCC cells with epithelial phenotype. F. nucleatum infection may convert epithelial to p-EMT phenotype via altering gene expression in OSCC. Oral hygiene managements against F. nucleatum infection may contribute to reduce the risk for an increase in metastatic ability of OSCC.
癌细胞发生部分上皮间质转化(p-EMT)而非完全 EMT 时,具有更高的转移风险。虽然具核梭杆菌主要栖息于口腔,但人们已经开始关注其在结直肠癌发展中的作用。在此,我们研究了具核梭杆菌对口腔鳞状细胞癌(OSCC)细胞中 p-EMT 的调控作用。我们分别培养上皮表型、p-EMT 表型和 EMT 表型的 OSCC 细胞,并与活的或热灭活的具核梭杆菌共培养。通过 qPCR 检测 OSCC 细胞与具核梭杆菌共培养后上皮分化、p-EMT 和 EMT 相关基因的表达情况。还检测了 OSCC 细胞的生长和侵袭情况。活的和热灭活的具核梭杆菌均可上调上皮表型 OSCC 细胞中 p-EMT 相关基因的表达,但对 p-EMT 表型或 EMT 表型的 OSCC 细胞无此作用。此外,具核梭杆菌还促进了上皮表型 OSCC 细胞的侵袭。与牙龈卟啉单胞菌以外的其他细菌株共培养不会改变上皮表型 OSCC 细胞中 p-EMT 相关基因的表达。具核梭杆菌感染可能通过改变 OSCC 细胞中的基因表达将上皮表型转化为 p-EMT 表型。针对具核梭杆菌感染的口腔卫生管理可能有助于降低 OSCC 转移能力增强的风险。