Neuropilin-2 Mediated beta-Catenin Signaling and Survival in Human Gastro-Intestinal Cancer Cell Lines

作者:Samuel Shaija*; Gaur Puja; Fan Fan; Xia Ling; Gray Michael J; Dallas Nikolaos A; Bose Debashish; Rodriguez Aguayo Cristian; Lopez Berestein Gabriel; Plowman Greg; Bagri Anil; Sood Anil K; Ellis Lee M
来源:PLos One, 2011, 6(10): e23208.
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0023208

摘要

NRP-2 is a high-affinity kinase-deficient receptor for ligands belonging to the class 3 semaphorin and vascular endothelial growth factor families. NRP-2 has been detected on the surface of several types of human cancer cells, but its expression and function in gastrointestinal (GI) cancer cells remains to be determined. We sought to determine the function of NRP-2 in mediating downstream signals regulating the growth and survival of human gastrointestinal cancer cells. In human gastric cancer specimens, NRP-2 expression was detected in tumor tissues but not in adjacent normal mucosa. In CNDT 2.5 cells, shRNA mediated knockdown NRP-2 expression led to decreased migration and invasion in vitro (p < 0.01). Focused gene-array analysis demonstrated that loss of NRP-2 reduced the expression of a critical metastasis mediator gene, S100A4. Steady-state levels and function of beta-catenin, a known regulator of S100A4, were also decreased in the shNRP-2 clones. Furthermore, knockdown of NRP-2 sensitized CNDT 2.5 cells in vitro to 5FU toxicity. This effect was associated with activation of caspases 3 and 7, cleavage of PARP, and downregulation of Bcl-2. In vivo growth of CNDT 2.5 cells in the livers of nude mice was significantly decreased in the shNRP-2 group (p < 0.05). Intraperitoneal administration of NRP-2 siRNA-DOPC decreased the tumor burden in mice (p = 0.01). Collectively, our results demonstrate that tumor cell-derived NRP-2 mediates critical survival signaling in gastrointestinal cancer cells.

  • 出版日期2011-10-20