A novel ETV6-miR-429-CRKL regulatory circuitry contributes to aggressiveness of hepatocellular carcinoma
JOURNAL OF EXPERIMENTAL & CLINICAL CANCER RESEARCH
Authors: Guo, Chunmei; Gao, Chao; Zhao, Dongting; Li, Jiahui; Wang, Jinxia; Sun, Xujuan; Liu, Qinlong; Hao, Lihong; Greenaway, Frederick T.; Tian, Yuxiang; Liu, Shuqing; Sun, Ming-Zhong
Abstract
Background Tumor metastasis is one of the main causes of the high mortality of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). E-Twenty Six variant gene 6 (ETV6) is a strong transcriptional repressor, associated with the development and progression of tumors. However, the exact role and underlying mechanism of ETV6 in HCC remain unclear. Methods Western blotting, quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to detect the expression levels of ETV6, CRKL (v-crk sarcoma virus CT10 oncogene homologue (avian)-like) and miR-429 in HCC tissues and cells; Transwell chamber and F-actin cytoskeleton staining assay to examine the effects of ETV6 and CRKL deregulation on the migration, invasion and cytoskeleton of HCC cells; Co-immunoprecipitation assay to determine the interaction between CRKL and ETV6; Chromatin immunoprecipitation assay to investigate the interaction between ETV6 and miR-429. Results We established a novel ETV6-miR-429-CRKL regulatory circuitry contributes to HCC metastasis. ETV6 and CRKL were frequently increased, while miR-429 was downregulated in both hepatocarcinoma tissues and hepatocarcinoma cells. Moreover, ETV6 upregulation was positively correlated with CRKL upregulation, and two negative correlations were also established for ETV6 and CRKL upregulation with miR-429 downregulation in both hepatocarcinoma patients' tumorous tissues and hepatocarcinoma cells. Functional investigations revealed that overexpression and knockdown of ETV6 was remarkably effective in promoting and suppressing HCC cell migration, invasion, cytoskeleton F-actin expression and arrangement, whereas, CRKL overexpression exhibited similar effects to the overexpression of ETV6. Mechanistically, ETV6 negatively regulates miR-429 expression by directly binding to the promoter region of miR-429; miR-429 negatively regulates CRKL expression by selectively targeting CRKL-3 '-UTR; ETV6 directly binds to CRKL and positively regulates its expression, which in turn CRKL positively regulates ETV6 expression. Conclusions Our data demonstrated that ETV6 promotes migration and invasion of HCC cells by directly binding to promoter region of miR-429 via modulating CRKL expression. The newly identified ETV6-miR-429-CRKL regulatory circuitry contributes to the aggressiveness of HCC, which provides new clues for fundamental research on diagnosis and treatment parameters for HCC.
Tyrosine Kinase-Dependent Defense Responses Against Herbivory in Arabidopsis
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
Authors: Miyamoto, Takumi; Uemura, Takuya; Nemoto, Keiichirou; Daito, Maho; Nozawa, Akira; Sawasaki, Tatsuya; Arimura, Gen-ichiro
Abstract
Tyrosine (Tyr) phosphorylation (TP) is important for promotion of plants' signaling. Arabidopsis calcium-dependent protein kinase related protein kinases (CRK2 and CRK3) phosphorylate Tyr residues of a subset of transcription factors (TFs), including herbivory-responsive ethylene response factor 13 (ERF13), but the in vivo functions of these kinases in plant defense responses and development remain to be clarified. We show that when CRKs were coexpressed with ERF13 in Arabidopsis leaf protoplasts, the transcription activity regulated via ERF13 was elevated by CRK2 but not CRK3 or their kinase-dead form mutants. Moreover, this elevation was abolished when a Tyr-phosphorylation mutant of ERF was coexpressed with CRK2, indicating that CRK2 serves as an effector of ERF13 mediated by Tyr-phosphorylation. Moreover, CRK2 and CRK3 acted as effectors of RAP2.6 and WRKY14, respectively. CRK-overexpressing lines and knockout mutants of Arabidopsis plants showed increased and decreased expression levels of the defensin gene PDF1.2 in leaves, respectively, conferring on the plants modulated defense properties against the generalist herbivore Spodoptera litura. However, these lines did not show any obvious developmental defects, indicating that CRKs play a role in defense responses but not in the ordinary growth or development of plants. Transcription of both CRK2 and CRK3 was positively regulated by jasmonate signaling and abscisic acid (ABA) signaling upon herbivory. Our findings suggest that these phytohormone-responsive CRKs work coordinately for plant defense responses via Tyr phosphorylation of herbivory-responsive regulators.