Zhang Guizhen, Liu Liwen, Li Jianhao, Chen Yu, Wang Yun, Zhang Yize, Dong Zihui, Xue Wenhua, Sun Ranran, Cui Guangying
Department of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 450052, Zhengzhou, Henan, P. R. China.
Gene Hospital of Henan Province, Precision Medicine Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, 450052, Zhengzhou, Henan, P. R. China.
Cell Death Discov. 2023 Jul 1;9(1):219. doi: 10.1038/s41420-023-01521-y.
NSUN2 is a nuclear RNA methyltransferase which catalyzes 5-methylcytosine (m5C), a posttranscriptional RNA modification. Aberrant m5C modification has been implicated in the development of multiple malignancies. However, its function in pancreatic cancer (PC) needs to be elucidated. Herein, we determined that NSUN2 was overexpressed in PC tissues and related to aggressive clinical features. Silence of NSUN2 by lentivirus weakened the capability of proliferation, migration and invasion of PC cells in vitro and inhibited the growth and metastasis of xenograft tumors in vivo. Contrarily, overexpression of NSUN2 stimulated PC growth and metastasis. Mechanistically, m5C-sequencing (m5C-seq) and RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) were carried out to identify downstream targets of NSUN2 and results showed that loss of NSUN2 led to decreased m5C modification level concomitant with reduced TIAM2 mRNA expression. Further validation experiments proved that NSUN2 silence accelerated the decay of TIAM2 mRNA in a YBX1-dependent manner. Additionally, NSUN2 exerted its oncogenic function partially through enhancing TIAM2 transcription. More importantly, disruption of the NSUN2/TIAM2 axis repressed the malignant phenotype of PC cells through blocking epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Collectively, our study highlighted the critical function of NSUN2 in PC and provided novel mechanistic insights into NSUN2/TIAM2 axis as promising therapeutic targets against PC.
NSUN2是一种核RNA甲基转移酶,可催化5-甲基胞嘧啶(m5C),这是一种转录后RNA修饰。异常的m5C修饰与多种恶性肿瘤的发生发展有关。然而,其在胰腺癌(PC)中的作用尚需阐明。在此,我们确定NSUN2在PC组织中过表达,并与侵袭性临床特征相关。通过慢病毒沉默NSUN2可削弱PC细胞在体外的增殖、迁移和侵袭能力,并在体内抑制异种移植肿瘤的生长和转移。相反,NSUN2的过表达促进了PC的生长和转移。机制上,进行了m5C测序(m5C-seq)和RNA测序(RNA-seq)以鉴定NSUN2的下游靶点,结果显示NSUN2缺失导致m5C修饰水平降低,同时TIAM2 mRNA表达减少。进一步的验证实验证明,NSUN2沉默以YBX1依赖的方式加速了TIAM2 mRNA的降解。此外,NSUN2部分通过增强TIAM2转录发挥其致癌功能。更重要的是,破坏NSUN2/TIAM2轴通过阻断上皮-间质转化(EMT)抑制了PC细胞的恶性表型。总之,我们的研究突出了NSUN2在PC中的关键作用,并为NSUN2/TIAM2轴作为PC有前景的治疗靶点提供了新的机制见解。
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