UBE2K facilitates erlotinib resistance and induces epithelial mesenchymal transition in osteosarcoma cancer stem-like cells via activating the mTOR signaling.
Tian Wang, Lian Zhang, Qi Liu, Dexing Wang, Ping Yang
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Introduction: Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive bone tumor, and EGFR inhibitors are commonly used as targeted drugs for OS treatment. Herein, roles of ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme E2K (UBE2K) in EGFR inhibitor resistance of OS were studied.
Methods: CD133+ MG63 and CD133+ U2OS cells were isolated using sorting flow cytometry and defined as osteosarcoma stem cells (OSCs)-MG63 and OSCs-U2OS, respectively. The stemness in MG63 and U2OS cells was evaluated by sphere formation assay. Cell activity, apoptosis and migration were appraised using CCK-8 assay, TUNEL staining, and wound healing assay. Western blotting was used to detect the expression of related proteins.
Results: OSCs-MG63 and OSCs-U2OS cells showed erlotinib resistant and high expression of UBE2K. Knocking down UBE2K reversed the erlotinib resistance, declined migration rate, and inhibited mitochondrial biogenesis in OSCs-MG63 and OSCs-U2OS cells. Silencing UBE2K inhibited the stemness in MG63 and U2OS cells, accompanied by reduced CD133+ cell proportion and restrained sphere formation ability. Silencing UBE2K repressed the mTOR/4EBP1/Cyclin D1/p21 signaling pathway in OSCs-MG63 and OSCs-U2OS cells. Furthermore, the influence of UBE2K silencing on the stemness of MG63 cells and the EMT progression in OSCs-MG63 cells was partially abolished by MHY1485, an agonist of mTOR signaling.
Conclusions: UBE2K facilitated the erlotinib resistance and induced EMT in OSCs via regulating the mTOR signaling.
期刊介绍:
''Pharmacology'' is an international forum to present and discuss current perspectives in drug research. The journal communicates research in basic and clinical pharmacology and related fields. It covers biochemical pharmacology, molecular pharmacology, immunopharmacology, drug metabolism, pharmacogenetics, analytical toxicology, neuropsychopharmacology, pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology. In addition to original papers and short communications of investigative findings and pharmacological profiles the journal contains reviews, comments and perspective notes; research communications of novel therapeutic agents are encouraged.