Silencing of c-jun decreases cell migration, invasion, and EMT in radioresistant human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell line CNE-2R

• Main Authors: Lin G, Yu B, Liang Z, Li L, Qu S, Chen K, Zhou L, Lu Q, Sun Y, Zhu X
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dove Medical Press 2018-07-01
• Series: OncoTargets and Therapy
• Subjects: nasopharyngeal carcinoma; c-jun; migration; invasion; EMT
• Online Access: https://www.dovepress.com/silencing-of-c-jun-decreases-cell-migration-invasion-and-emt-in-radior-peer-reviewed-article-OTT

Guoxiang Lin,1,2,* Binbin Yu,1,2,* Zhongguo Liang,1,2 Ling Li,1–3 Song Qu,1–3 Kaihua Chen,1,2 Lei Zhou,1,2 Qiteng Lu,1,2 Yongchu Sun,1,2 Xiaodong Zhu1–4 1Department of Radiation Oncology, Affiliated Tumor Hospital of Guangxi Medical University and Cancer Institute of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China; 2Guangxi Key Laboratory of Early Prevention and Treatment for Regional High Frequency Tumor, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China; 3Key Laboratory of High-Incidence-Tumor Prevention and Treatment (Guangxi Medical University), Ministry of Education, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China; 4Department of Oncology, Affiliated Wuming Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi 530021, People’s Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Previously, we found that c-jun was highly expressed in radiation-resistant human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2R) compared with human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells (CNE-2). Materials and methods: In this study, we first used the scratch assays and transwell assays to detect the migration and invasion of CNE-2R and CNE-2 cells and tested the epithelial mesenchymal transformation (EMT)-related proteins E-cadherin and N-cadherin by Western blot analysis. Subsequently, c-jun was knocked down to establish the effect of c-jun on EMT, migration, and invasion of CNE-2R cells both in vitro and in vivo. Results: A high EMT level, CNE-2R cells were more capable of migration and invasion than CNE-2 cells. Moreover, silencing of c-jun has upregulated the expression of E-cadherin and downregulated N-cadherin in CNE-2R cells, and subsequently the migration and invasion capacity of the cells was decreased. Consistent with in vitro results, in vivo studies indicated that the c-jun silencing reduced pulmonary migration of CNE-2R cells. Immunohistochemistry of lung metastatic tumor tissue showed that E-cadherin was upregulated, and N-cadherin was downregulated. Conclusion: These findings suggest that silencing of c-jun in CNE-2R cells reduces cells migration, invasion, and EMT both in vitro and in vivo. Keywords: nasopharyngeal carcinoma, c-jun, migration, invasion, EMT