NF-kappaB p65 ELISA Kit

Background: Gene and protein expression of the glucose transporter GLUT6 are elevated in multiple cancers, including endometrial cancer. However, the extrinsic and intrinsic mechanisms that regulate GLUT6 expression in this malignancy are unknown. Herein we investigate the potential mechanisms regulating GLUT6 expression in endometrial cancer. Methods: Data mining of the GLUT6 gene (SLC2A6) in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) PanCan datasets was performed in cBioPortal. A transcriptome PCR array was used to identify regulators of GLUT6 expression. The role of RELA in regulating GLUT6 gene and protein expression was investigated by overexpressing constitutively active and dominant-negative RELA in endometrial cells. Endometrial cells were treated with the pro-inflammatory cytokine TNF alpha and the expression of RELA, I kappa B alpha, TNF alpha, and GLUT6 were examined by Western blotting and RT-qPCR. Results: GLUT6 is altered in 1% of all cancer samples (157 of 10, 967 samples) within TCGA datasets including 4.7% of uterine (endometrial) cancers. GLUT6 expression was positively co-expressed with multiple members of the NF-kappa B signalling pathway including NFKB2, RELB, NFKBIE, and TNF in endometrial cancer samples. A transcriptome PCR array identified RELA as the top potential transcriptional regulator of GLUT6 expression. Overexpression of constitutively active RELA increased GLUT6 gene expression in normal endometrial epithelial cells (hUE-Ts), while overexpression of dominant-negative RELA decreased GLUT6 expression in cancerous RL95-2 endometrial cells. TNF alpha treatment activated canonical NF-kappa B signalling and increased the expression of GLUT6, but not that of other glucose transporters (GLUTs 1, 3, 4, 8, 10, or 12) in endometrial cells. Conclusions: TNF alpha is a cytokine that is commonly increased in obesity-related endometrial cancer and the findings herein support a potential mechanism whereby TNF alpha may contribute to endometrial cancer initiation or progression by increasing GLUT6 expression. Furthermore, we identified RELA, an important downstream mediator of the TNF alpha signalling cascade, as a regulator of GLUT6 expression in endometrial cells. Future studies are warranted to determine how GLUT6 expression affects endometrial tumourigenesis or cancer progression.

HOPS/Tmub1 is a ubiquitously expressed transmembrane ubiquitin-like protein that shuttles between nucleus and cytoplasm during cell cycle progression. HOPS causes cell cycle arrest in G(0)/G(1) phase, an event associated to stabilization of p19(Arf), an important tumor suppressor protein. Moreover, HOPS plays an important role in driving centrosomal assembly and maintenance, mitotic spindle proper organization, and ultimately a correct cell division. Recently, HOPS has been described as an important regulator of p53, which acts as modifier, stabilizing p53 half-life and playing a key role in p53 mediating apoptosis after DNA damage. NF-kappa B is a transcription factor with a central role in many cellular events, including inflammation and apoptosis. Our experiments demonstrate that the transcriptional activity of the p65/RelA NF-kappa B subunit is regulated by HOPS. Importantly, Hops(-/-) cells have remarkable alterations of pro-inflammatory responses. Specifically, we found that HOPS enhances NF-kappa B activation leading to increase transcription of inflammatory mediators, through the reduction of I kappa B alpha stability. Notably, this effect is mediated by a direct HOPS binding to the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRAF6, which lessens TRAF6 stability ultimately leading increased IKK complex activation. These findings uncover a previously unidentified function of HOPS/Tmub1 as a novel modulator of TRAF6, regulating inflammatory responses driven by activation of the NF-kappa B signaling pathway. The comprehension on how HOPS/Tmub1 takes part to the inflammatory processes in vivo and whether this function is important in the control of proliferation and tumorigenesis could establish the basis for the development of novel pharmacological strategies.