Cathepsin L activated by mutant p53 and Egr-1 promotes ionizing radiation-induced EMT in human NSCLC

BACKGROUND: Ionizing radiation (IR) is one of the major clinical therapies of cancer, although it increases the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), unexpectedly. The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying this role are not completely understood. METHODS: We used NSCLC cell lines as well as tumor specimens from 78 patients with NSCLC to evaluate p53, Cathepsin L (CTSL) and EMT phenotypic changes. Xenograft models was also utilized to examine the roles of mutant p53 (mut-p53) and CTSL in regulating IR-induced EMT of NSCLC. RESULTS: Expression of CTSL was markedly increased in human NSCLC tissues with mutant p53 (mut-p53), and p53 mutation positively correlated with metastasis of NSCLC patients. In human non-small cell lung cancer cell line, H1299 cells transfected with various p53 lentivirus vectors, mut-p53 could promote the invasion and motility of cells under IR, mainly through the EMT. This EMT process was induced by elevating intranuclear CTSL which was regulated by mut-p53 depending on Early growth response protein-1 (Egr-1) activation. In the subcutaneous tumor xenograft model, IR promoted the EMT of the cancer cells in the presence of mut-p53, owing to increase expression and nuclear transition of its downstream protein CTSL. CONCLUSION: Taken together, these data reveal the role of the mut-p53/Egr-1/CTSL axis in regulating the signaling pathway responsible for IR-induced EMT. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13046-019-1054-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.