title: CecropinXJ, a silkworm antimicrobial peptide, induces cytoskeleton disruption in esophageal carcinoma cells.
abstract: Antimicrobial peptides exist in the non-specific immune system of organism and participate in the innate host defense of each species. CecropinXJ, a cationic antimicrobial peptide, possesses potent anticancer activity and acts preferentially on cancer cells instead of normal cells, but the mechanism of cancer cell death induced by cecropinXJ remains largely unknown. This study was performed to investigate the cytoskeleton-disrupting effects of cecropinXJ on human esophageal carcinoma cell line Eca109 using scanning electron microscopy observation, fluorescence imaging, cell migration and invasion assays, western blotting, and quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) analysis. The electronic microscope and fluorescence imaging observation suggested that cecropinXJ could result in morphological changes and induce damage to microtubules and actin of Eca109 cells in a dose-dependent manner. The cell migration and invasion assays demonstrated that cecropinXJ could inhibit migration and invasion of tumor cells. Western blot and qRT-PCR analysis showed that there was obvious correlation between microtubule depolymerization and actin polymerization induced by cecropinXJ. Moreover, cecropinXJ might also cause decreased expression of α-actin, β-actin, γ-actin, α-tubulin, and β-tubulin genes in concentration- and time-dependent manners. In summary, this study indicates that cecropinXJ triggers cytotoxicity in Eca109 cells through inducing the cytoskeleton destruction and regulating the expression of cytoskeleton proteins. This cecropinXJ-mediated cytoskeleton-destruction effect is instrumental in our understanding of the detailed action of antimicrobial peptides in human cancer cells and cecropinXJ might be a potential therapeutic agent for the treatment of cancer in the future.
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
authors.forename: Lijie
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
authors.forename: Yanling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
authors.forename: Su
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China.
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology/Oncology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
authors.forename: Jianhua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi 830046, China zfcxju@xju.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Fuchun
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D054807:Cecropins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D003599:Cytoskeleton / Q000187:drug effects*; D017931:DNA Primers; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents; D054807:Cecropins; D017931:DNA Primers
keywords: actin; antimicrobial peptide; cytoskeleton; microtubule