title: Loss of PPM1A expression enhances invasion and the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in bladder cancer by activating the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway.
abstract: The transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway is believed to contribute to carcinoma development by increasing cell invasiveness and metastasis and inducing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Protein phosphatase PPM1A has been reported to dephosphorylate TGF-β-activated Smad2/3, thus inhibiting the TGF-β signaling pathway. In this study, we investigated the role of PPM1A in bladder cancer. PPM1A protein expression was analyzed in 145 bladder cancer specimens. The loss of PPM1A expression was predictive of poor survival and high muscle-invasiveness. PPM1A was more commonly deficient among muscle-invasive relapse samples compared to primary tumors in twenty paired bladder cancer tissues. Functional studies indicated that blockade of PPM1A through lentivirus-mediated RNA interference significantly promoted urinary bladder cancer (BCa) cell motility, the EMT in vitro and metastasis in vivo, and these effects were dependent on the TGF-β/Smad signaling pathway. The increase in p-Smad2/3 induced by TGF-β1 correlated with the degree of PPM1A depletion in BCa cells, which resulted in an altered expression profile of TGF-β-inducible genes. The correlations between PPM1A and biomarkers related to the TGF-β signaling pathway and tumor invasion were also detected in BCa samples. These results demonstrate that loss of PPM1A is associated with the development of tumor invasion in bladder cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Pathology, Huashan Hospital; Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Pathology, Huashan Hospital; Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaopeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiaolong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Pathology, Huashan Hospital; Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Zude
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Qianyu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Department of Pathology, Fifth People's Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Xiuping
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, Tenth People's Hospital; Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Junhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015536:Down-Regulation; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000172:deficiency*; D000071636:Protein Phosphatase 2C; D011897:Random Allocation; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051899:Smad2 Protein / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: C497782:SMAD2 protein, human; C497790:SMAD3 protein, human; D051899:Smad2 Protein; D051900:Smad3 Protein; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; C000607456:PPM1A protein, human; D010749:Phosphoprotein Phosphatases; C000607466:Ppm1a protein, mouse; D000071636:Protein Phosphatase 2C