title: ATF3 suppresses metastasis of bladder cancer by regulating gelsolin-mediated remodeling of the actin cytoskeleton.
abstract: Bladder cancer is associated with high recurrence and mortality rates due to metastasis. The elucidation of metastasis suppressors may offer therapeutic opportunities if their mechanisms of action can be elucidated and tractably exploited. In this study, we investigated the clinical and functional significance of the transcription factor activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) in bladder cancer metastasis. Gene expression analysis revealed that decreased ATF3 was associated with bladder cancer progression and reduced survival of patients with bladder cancer. Correspondingly, ATF3 overexpression in highly metastatic bladder cancer cells decreased migration in vitro and experimental metastasis in vivo. Conversely, ATF3 silencing increased the migration of bladder cancer cells with limited metastatic capability in the absence of any effect on proliferation. In keeping with their increased motility, metastatic bladder cancer cells had increased numbers of actin filaments. Moreover, ATF3 expression correlated with expression of the actin filament severing protein gelsolin (GSN). Mechanistic studies revealed that ATF3 upregulated GSN, whereas ATF3 silencing reduced GSN levels, concomitant with alterations in the actin cytoskeleton. We identified six ATF3 regulatory elements in the first intron of the GSN gene confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Critically, GSN expression reversed the metastatic capacity of bladder cancer cells with diminished levels of ATF3. Taken together, our results indicate that ATF3 suppresses metastasis of bladder cancer cells, at least in part through the upregulation of GSN-mediated actin remodeling. These findings suggest ATF3 coupled with GSN as prognostic markers for bladder cancer metastasis.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Clinical Laboratory and Urology, Xinhua Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiangliang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Junhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guohua
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Tingting
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rong
authors.forename: Liang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Qiaohong
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Aaron T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Irving
authors.forename: Die
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Elizabeth D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Jun-Ping
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Sadler
authors.forename: Bryan R G
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.forename: Lisong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Dakang
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
mesh_terms: D008841:Actin Cytoskeleton / Q000378:metabolism*; D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D005260:Female; D018260:Gelsolin / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D008875:Middle Aged; D034622:RNA Interference; D020218:Response Elements / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014183:Transplantation, Heterologous; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C490449:ATF3 protein, human; D051700:Activating Transcription Factor 3; D018260:Gelsolin