title: Galectin-1 is overexpressed in CD133+ human lung adenocarcinoma cells and promotes their growth and invasiveness.
abstract: Previous studies demonstrated that a subpopulation of cancer cells, which are CD133 positive (CD133+) feature higher invasive and metastatic abilities, are called cancer stem cells (CSCs). By using tumor cells derived from patients with lung adenocarcinoma, we found that galectin-1 is highly overexpressed in the CD133+ cancer cells as compared to the normal cancer cells (CD133-) from the same patients. We overexpressed galectin-1 in CD133- cancer cells and downregulated it in CSCs. We found that overexpression of galectin-1 promoted invasiveness of CD133- cells, while knockdown of galectin-1 suppressed proliferation, colony formation and invasiveness of CSCs. Furthermore, tumor growth was significantly inhibited in CSCs xenografts with knockdown of galectin-1 as compared to CSCs treated with scramble siRNAs. Biochemical studies revealed that galectin-1 knockdown led to the suppression of COX-2/PGE2 and AKT/mTOR pathways, indicating galectin-1 might control the phenotypes of CSCs by regulating these signaling pathways. Finally, a retrospective study revealed that galectin-1 levels in blood circulation negatively correlates with overall survival and positively correlates with lymph node metastasis of the patients. Taken together, these findings suggested that galectin-1 plays a major role on the tumorigenesis and invasiveness of CD133+ cancer cells and might serve as a potential therapeutic target for treatment of human patients with lung adenocarcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xuefeng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Xianguo
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Davis Heart and Lung Research Institute, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, Ohio, USA.
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Zhongnan Hospital, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
authors.forename: Jinping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D000077192:Adenocarcinoma of Lung; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000818:Animals; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000378:metabolism*; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D002465:Cell Movement; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D005260:Female; D037483:Galectin 1 / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D016513:Mice, SCID; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009368:Neoplasm Transplantation; D014411:Neoplastic Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013997:Time Factors; D014162:Transfection; D047368:Tumor Burden; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D015854:Up-Regulation
chemical_list: D000071916:AC133 Antigen; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D037483:Galectin 1; D006023:Glycoproteins; C000606023:PROM1 protein, human; D010455:Peptides; C000606024:Prom1 protein, mouse