Downregulation of KCTD12 contributes to melanoma stemness by modulating CD271

Objective: Cancer metastasis remains the primary cause of cancer-related death worldwide.In a previous study, we found that levels of BTB/POZ domain-containing protein KCTD12 are lower in metastatic melanoma cells than in parental melanoma cells.The purpose of this study was to identify the roles of KCTD12 in cancer metastasis.Methods: The Cancer Genome Atlas(TCGA) datasets were used to evaluate the relationship between KCTD12 and skin cutaneous melanoma(SKCM) prognosis.The effects of endogenous KCTD12 on biological behaviors were examined using the MTT assay.The impacts of KCTD12 on melanoma stemness were explored using spheroid formation assay.KCTD12 knockout A375 cells were generated to confirm the inhibitory effect of KCTD12 on CD271, and a mouse metastatic model was used to determine the impact of KCTD12 on melanoma metastasis in vivo.Results: KCTD12 levels were lower in lung metastatic cells than in paired parental melanoma cells, and low KCTD12 expression indicated a poor prognosis in SKCM.Cancer metastasis-related capacities were higher in lung metastatic cells than in parental melanoma cells.Moreover, KCTD12 knockdown enhanced tumor growth and metastasis both in vitro and in vivo.Mechanistically, the interaction between KCTD12 and CD271 might be responsible for the stemness transformation after KCTD12 knockdown.Conclusions: This study identifies for the first time the role of the interaction between KCTD12 and CD271 in inducing melanoma cell stemness transformation.Moreover, KCTD12 repression enhances melanoma cell growth, adhesion, migration and invasion.

LncRNA DPP10-AS1 promotes malignant processes through epigenetically activating its cognate gene DPP10 and predicts poor prognosis in lung cancer patients

Objective:The purpose of this study was to explore the function and gene expression regulation of the newly identified lnc RNA DPP10-AS1 in lung cancer,and its potential value as a prognostic biomarker.Methods:q RT-PCR and Western blot were conducted to detect the expression of DDP10-AS1 and DPP10 in lung cancer cell lines and tissues.The effects of DDP10-AS1 on DPP10 expression,cell growth,invasion,apoptosis,and in vivo tumor growth were investigated in lung cancer cells by Western blot,rescue experiments,colony formation,flow cytometry,and xenograft animal experiments.Results:The novel antisense lnc RNA DPP10-AS1 was found to be highly expressed in cancer tissues(P<0.0001),and its upregulation predicted poor prognosis in patients with lung cancer(P=0.0025).Notably,DPP10-AS1 promoted lung cancer cell growth,colony formation,and cell cycle progression,and repressed apoptosis in lung cancer cells by upregulating DPP10 expression.Additionally,DPP10-AS1 facilitated lung tumor growth via upregulation of DPP10 protein in a xenograft mouse model.Importantly,DPP10-AS1 positively regulated DPP10 gene expression,and both were coordinately upregulated in lung cancer tissues.Mechanically,DPP10-AS1 was found to associate with DPP10 m RNA but did not enhance DPP10 m RNA stability.Hypomethylation of DPP10-AS1 and DPP10 contributed to their coordinate upregulation in lung cancer.Conclusions:These findings indicated that the upregulation of the antisense lnc RNA DPP10-AS1 promotes lung cancer malignant processes and facilitates tumorigenesis by epigenetically regulating its cognate sense gene DPP10.DPP10-AS1 may serve as a candidate prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in lung cancer.

NOL7 facilitates melanoma progression and metastasis

Dear Editor,Metastasis is the cause of most fatalities in cancer patients and remains the phenomenon poorly understood mechanistically. Deciphering of the regulatory networks underlying the cancer cell metastasis is urgently needed. Nucleolar protein 7 (NOL7) has been reported to function as a tumor suppressor in cervical cancer.1 Our current study reveals a novel tumor-promoting capacity of NOL7 in melanoma. We first detected that NOL7 expression is upregulated in metastatic melanoma as compared with its expression at the primary site through isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation proteomic screening, further confirming this finding with the analysis of NOL7 protein and messenger RNA (mRNA) levels (Supplementary Fig. S1). Importantly, NOL7 expression increased with the disease progression from benign nevus to primary melanoma and further to metastatic melanoma (Fig. 1a and Supplementary Fig. S1d). Previous studies have shown that melanoma is commonly associated with the amplification of the chromosome region 6p, particularly 6p21–23, where the NOL7 gene resides, and that this region frequently undergoes heterozygous loss in cervical cancer.2 It might therefore be predicted that NOL7 exhibits a different expression pattern and plays different roles in melanoma and cervical cancer.