Activation of adrenergic receptor 2 promotes tumor progression and epithelial mesenchymal transition in tongue squamous cell carcinoma

作者：Liu, Haichao; Wang, Cheng; Xie, Nan; Zhuang, Zehang; Liu, Xiqiang; Hou, Jinsong; Huang, Hongzhang^*

来源：International Journal of Molecular Medicine, 2018, 41(1): 147-154.

DOI：10.3892/ijmm.2017.3248

• 2-adrenergic receptor
• tongue squamous cell carcinoma
• epithelial mesenchymal transition
• interleukin-6

Tongue squamous cell carcinoma (TSCC) is more aggressive than other cancers in the head and neck region because of its potential for metastasis. Recently, 2-adrenergic receptor (2-AR) has been reported to be a potential promoter in various types of solid cancer. However, the role of 2-AR and its effect on TSCC is not well documented. Histological staining, western blot analysis, migration and invasion assay were used. In this study, the expression of 2-AR was increased in TSCC tissue compared with adjacent non-cancerous epithelium. Further analysis demonstrated that increased expression of 2-AR was correlated with differentiation, lymph node metastasis and reduced overall survival rate in patients with TSCC. In vitro studies confirmed that activation of 2-AR can promote epithelial mesenchymal transition in TSCC by initiating an interleukin-6/Stat3/Snail1 pathway. These results suggest that 2-AR has an oncogenic role in TSCC and may be a potential therapeutic target in TSCC.

• 出版日期2018-1
• 单位中山大学