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CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin

The mechanisms through which cancer-upregulated gene 2 (CUG2), a novel oncogene, affects Wnt/β-catenin signaling, essential for tumorigenesis, are unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate some of these mechanisms in A549 lung cancer cells. Under the overexpression of CUG2, the protein levels an...

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Autores principales: Kaowinn, Sirichat, Oh, Sangtaek, Moon, Jeong, Yoo, Ah Young, Kang, Ho Young, Lee, Mi Rim, Kim, Ji Eun, Hwang, Dae Youn, Youn, So Eun, Koh, Sang Seok, Chung, Young-Hwa
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: D.A. Spandidos 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6411349/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30968157
http://dx.doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2019.4724
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author Kaowinn, Sirichat
Oh, Sangtaek
Moon, Jeong
Yoo, Ah Young
Kang, Ho Young
Lee, Mi Rim
Kim, Ji Eun
Hwang, Dae Youn
Youn, So Eun
Koh, Sang Seok
Chung, Young-Hwa
author_facet Kaowinn, Sirichat
Oh, Sangtaek
Moon, Jeong
Yoo, Ah Young
Kang, Ho Young
Lee, Mi Rim
Kim, Ji Eun
Hwang, Dae Youn
Youn, So Eun
Koh, Sang Seok
Chung, Young-Hwa
author_sort Kaowinn, Sirichat
collection PubMed
description The mechanisms through which cancer-upregulated gene 2 (CUG2), a novel oncogene, affects Wnt/β-catenin signaling, essential for tumorigenesis, are unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate some of these mechanisms in A549 lung cancer cells. Under the overexpression of CUG2, the protein levels and activity of β-catenin were evaluated by western blot analysis and luciferase assay. To examine a biological consequence of β-catenin under CUG2 overexpression, cell migration, invasion and sphere formation assay were performed. The upregulation of β-catenin induced by CUG2 overexpression was also accessed by xenotransplantation in mice. We first found that CUG2 overexpression increased β-catenin expression and activity. The suppression of β-catenin decreased cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotypes, indicating that β-catenin is involved in CUG2-mediated CSC-like phenotypes. Notably, CUG2 overexpression increased the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37, which is known to recruit E3 ligase for β-catenin degradation. Moreover, CUG2 interacted with and enhanced the expression and kinase activity of never in mitosis gene A-related kinase 2 (NEK2). Recombinant NEK2 phosphorylated β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37, while NEK2 knockdown decreased the phosphorylation of β-catenin, suggesting that NEK2 is involved in the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37. Treatment with CGK062, a small chemical molecule, which promotes the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37 through protein kinase C (PKC)α to induce its degradation, reduced β-catenin levels and inhibited the CUG2-induced features of malignant tumors, including increased cell migration, invasion and sphere formation. Furthermore, CGK062 treatment suppressed CUG2-mediated tumor formation in nude mice. Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that CUG2 enhances the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37 by activating NEK2, thus stabilizing β-catenin. CGK062 may thus have potential for use as a therapeutic drug against CUG2-overexpressing lung cancer cells.
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spelling pubmed-64113492019-03-19 CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin Kaowinn, Sirichat Oh, Sangtaek Moon, Jeong Yoo, Ah Young Kang, Ho Young Lee, Mi Rim Kim, Ji Eun Hwang, Dae Youn Youn, So Eun Koh, Sang Seok Chung, Young-Hwa Int J Oncol Articles The mechanisms through which cancer-upregulated gene 2 (CUG2), a novel oncogene, affects Wnt/β-catenin signaling, essential for tumorigenesis, are unclear. In this study, we aimed to elucidate some of these mechanisms in A549 lung cancer cells. Under the overexpression of CUG2, the protein levels and activity of β-catenin were evaluated by western blot analysis and luciferase assay. To examine a biological consequence of β-catenin under CUG2 overexpression, cell migration, invasion and sphere formation assay were performed. The upregulation of β-catenin induced by CUG2 overexpression was also accessed by xenotransplantation in mice. We first found that CUG2 overexpression increased β-catenin expression and activity. The suppression of β-catenin decreased cancer stem cell (CSC)-like phenotypes, indicating that β-catenin is involved in CUG2-mediated CSC-like phenotypes. Notably, CUG2 overexpression increased the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37, which is known to recruit E3 ligase for β-catenin degradation. Moreover, CUG2 interacted with and enhanced the expression and kinase activity of never in mitosis gene A-related kinase 2 (NEK2). Recombinant NEK2 phosphorylated β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37, while NEK2 knockdown decreased the phosphorylation of β-catenin, suggesting that NEK2 is involved in the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37. Treatment with CGK062, a small chemical molecule, which promotes the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37 through protein kinase C (PKC)α to induce its degradation, reduced β-catenin levels and inhibited the CUG2-induced features of malignant tumors, including increased cell migration, invasion and sphere formation. Furthermore, CGK062 treatment suppressed CUG2-mediated tumor formation in nude mice. Taken together, the findings of this study suggest that CUG2 enhances the phosphorylation of β-catenin at Ser33/Ser37 by activating NEK2, thus stabilizing β-catenin. CGK062 may thus have potential for use as a therapeutic drug against CUG2-overexpressing lung cancer cells. D.A. Spandidos 2019-02-22 /pmc/articles/PMC6411349/ /pubmed/30968157 http://dx.doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2019.4724 Text en Copyright: © Kaowinn et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) , which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
spellingShingle Articles
Kaowinn, Sirichat
Oh, Sangtaek
Moon, Jeong
Yoo, Ah Young
Kang, Ho Young
Lee, Mi Rim
Kim, Ji Eun
Hwang, Dae Youn
Youn, So Eun
Koh, Sang Seok
Chung, Young-Hwa
CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title_full CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title_fullStr CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title_full_unstemmed CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title_short CGK062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through NEK2 and β-catenin
title_sort cgk062, a small chemical molecule, inhibits cancer upregulated gene 2-induced oncogenesis through nek2 and β-catenin
topic Articles
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6411349/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30968157
http://dx.doi.org/10.3892/ijo.2019.4724
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