title: Monoacylglycerol lipase promotes metastases in nasopharyngeal carcinoma.
abstract: Monoacylglycerol lipase (MAGL) is a serine hydrolase that hydrolyzes monoacylglycerides into free fatty acids and glycerol. It has recently been found to be involved in cancer progression through the free fatty acid or endocannabinoid network after studies on its function in the endocannabinoid system. Here, we determined a role for MAGL in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), which is known for its high metastatic potential. Among the different NPC cells we tested, MAGL was highly expressed in high metastatic NPC cells, whereas low metastatic potential NPC cells exhibited lower expression of MAGL. Overexpression of MAGL in low metastatic NPC cells enhanced their motile behavior and metastatic capacity in vivo. Conversely, knockdown of MAGL reduced the motility of highly metastatic cells, reducing their metastatic capacity in vivo. Growth rate was not influenced by MAGL in either high or low metastatic cells. MAGL expression was associated with the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) proteins, such as E-cadherin, vimentin and Snail. It was also related to the sidepopulation (SP) of NPC cells. Our findings establish that MAGL promotes metastases in NPC through EMT, and it may serve as a target for the prevention of NPC metastases.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Wen-Rong
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Lian
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li-Xia
authors.initials: LX
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Ju
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Cheng-Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Miao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qi-Sheng
authors.initials: QS
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Li-Zhen
authors.initials: LZ
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jin-Xin
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Bei
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China ; Department of Experimental Research, Sun Yat-Sen University Cancer Center Guangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Xin
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Zeng
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002277:Carcinoma; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D018450:Disease Progression; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008994:Monoacylglycerol Lipases / Q000378:metabolism*; D000077274:Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology / Q000473:pathology*; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D008994:Monoacylglycerol Lipases
keywords: MAGL; metastases; nasopharyngeal carcinoma