CypA/TAF15/STAT5A/miR-514a-3p feedback loop drives ovarian cancer metastasis

Abstract

Cyclophilin A (CypA) is a peptidyl-prolyl isomerase that participates in multiple cancer events, but the molecular mechanisms of abnormal expression and regulation of CypA in ovarian cancer (OC) have never been considered. This study identifies CypA as a key driver of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in ovarian cancer and explores the mechanisms that underly this process. We show that CypA is upregulated in tissues and serum of ovarian cancer patients and that CypA overexpression correlates with poor prognosis. CypA facilitates tumor growth and metastasis in vivo in subcutaneous tumor xenograft and abdominal metastatic models, and in vitro studies suggest a mechanism, showing that CypA accelerates ovarian cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition by activating a PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Mechanistic studies showed that STAT5A binds pri-miR-514a-3p and inhibits its activity, whereas miR-514a-3p directly binds to the 3ʹ-UTR of CypA to suppress its expression, resulting in STAT5A promoting the expression of CypA, forming the STAT5A/miR-514a-3p/CypA axis. Furthermore, immunoprecipitates and mass spectrometry analysis identifies a CypA interaction with TAF15 that stabilizes TAF15 by suppressing its proteasome degradation and promotes its entry into the nucleus. While STAT5A is positively regulated by TAF15. Our findings identify a novel feedback loop for CypA that drives EMT and ovarian tumor growth and metastasis via a TAF15/STAT5A/miR-514a-3p pathway in ovarian cancer and facilitates the release of CypA into the extracellular, which provides a promising therapeutic target for OC treatment and a diagnostic biomarker.