title: Knockdown of astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) in cervical cancer cells decreases their invasiveness, epithelial to mesenchymal transition, and chemoresistance.
abstract: During cancer development, epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) facilitates tumor dissemination and metastatic spread, which is characterized by morphologic changes from epithelial cells to fibroblast-like cells, disassembly of intercellular junction, and increased cell motility. Overexpression of astrocyte elevated gene-1(AEG-1) in various cancer cell lines and cancers has been found to be associated with aggressive tumor behavior. We found that AEG-1 expression was elevated in low differentiation cervical cancer specimens from patients. However, little is known about the AEG-1's precise role in invasion and metastasis. Here we demonstrate that downregulation of AEG-1 by RNAi significantly decreased the invasion and migration of cervical cancer cells, suggesting that AEG-1 overexpression may enhance cancer cell motility by inducing EMT. Downregulation of AEG-1 also led to reduced expression of mesenchymal marker vimentin and the transcription factor Snail but upregulation of epithelial marker E-cadherin in HeLa cells. In addition, knockdown of AEG-1 decreased colony forming units and increased sensitivity to cancer drugs in vitro. Taken together, our results suggest that knockdown of AEG-1 could decrease EMT and chemoresistance in cervical cancer cells and attenuate their aggressive behavior.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Histology & Embryology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University, China; Institute of Pathogenic Biology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University; China.
authors.forename: Xiangwen
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Histology & Embryology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University, China.
authors.forename: Degui
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Gansu Provincial People's Hospital; Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Huiling
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology; the First Hospital of Lanzhou University; China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Hysteroscopic Center, Maternal and Child Health Care Hospital of Lanzhou City; Lanzhou, China.
authors.forename: Tianyuan
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Histology & Embryology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University, China.
authors.forename: Lang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathogenic Biology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University; China.
authors.forename: Bingdong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Institute of Pathogenic Biology; School of Basic Medical Sciences; Lanzhou University; China; Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology; Bloomberg School of Public Health; Johns Hopkins University; Baltimore, USA.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D015153:Blotting, Western; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules / Q000235:genetics*; D019008:Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000235:genetics*; D034622:RNA Interference; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism; D014410:Tumor Stem Cell Assay; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D015815:Cell Adhesion Molecules; C483039:MTDH protein, human; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014746:Vimentin
keywords: AEG-1; astrocyte elevated gene-1; cervical cancer; chemoresistance; epithelial to mesenchymal transition; invasiveness; metastasis