Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China.
International Peace Maternity and Child Health Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
Oncogene. 2022 Dec;41(49):5298-5314. doi: 10.1038/s41388-022-02495-4. Epub 2022 Nov 3.
Emerging evidence shows that the lncRNA THOR is deeply involved in the development of various cancers. However, the effects and underlying molecular mechanisms of THOR in breast cancer (BRCA) initiation and progression have not been fully elucidated. Here we show that THOR is critical for BRCA tumorigenesis by interacting with hnRNPD to regulate downstream signaling pathways. THOR expression was significantly higher in BRCA tissues than in normal tissues, and THOR upregulation was associated with a poor prognosis in BRCA patients. Functionally, THOR knockdown impaired cell proliferation, migration and invasion in BRCA cells in vitro and inhibited tumorigenesis and metastasis in a tumor xenograft model and THOR-deficient MMTV-PyMT model in vivo. Mechanistically, THOR bound to the hnRNPD protein and increased hnRNPD protein levels by maintaining hnRNPD protein stability through inhibition of the proteasome-dependent degradation pathway. The increased hnRNPD protein levels led to stabilization of its target mRNAs, including pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 1 (PDK1), further activating downstream PI3K-AKT and MAPK signaling pathways to regulate BRCA cell proliferation and metastasis. Together, our findings indicate that THOR is a promising prognostic predictor for BRCA patients and that the THOR-hnRNPD-PDK1-MAPK/PI3K-AKT axis might be a potential therapeutic target for BRCA treatment.
越来越多的证据表明,长链非编码 RNA(lncRNA)THOR 深度参与了各种癌症的发展。然而,THOR 在乳腺癌(BRCA)起始和进展中的作用及其潜在的分子机制尚未完全阐明。在这里,我们通过与 hnRNPD 相互作用来调节下游信号通路,表明 THOR 对 BRCA 肿瘤发生至关重要。THOR 在 BRCA 组织中的表达明显高于正常组织,THOR 的上调与 BRCA 患者的不良预后相关。功能上,THOR 敲低会损害 BRCA 细胞在体外的增殖、迁移和侵袭,并抑制肿瘤异种移植模型和体内 THOR 缺陷型 MMTV-PyMT 模型中的肿瘤发生和转移。从机制上讲,THOR 与 hnRNPD 蛋白结合,并通过抑制蛋白酶体依赖性降解途径来维持 hnRNPD 蛋白稳定性,从而增加 hnRNPD 蛋白水平。增加的 hnRNPD 蛋白水平导致其靶 mRNAs(包括丙酮酸脱氢酶激酶 1(PDK1))稳定,从而进一步激活下游 PI3K-AKT 和 MAPK 信号通路,调节 BRCA 细胞的增殖和转移。总之,我们的研究结果表明,THOR 是 BRCA 患者有前途的预后预测因子,并且 THOR-hnRNPD-PDK1-MAPK/PI3K-AKT 轴可能是 BRCA 治疗的潜在治疗靶点。
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