Loss of endothelial cell-specific molecule 1 promotes the tumorigenicity and metastasis of prostate cancer cells through regulation of the TIMP-1/MMP-9 expression

Oncotarget. 2017 Feb 21;8(8):13886-13897. doi: 10.18632/oncotarget.14684.

Abstract

The Endothelial cell specific molecule-1 (ESM1) protein has been involved in proliferation and metastatic progression in multiple tumors. However, there are no studies regarding the mechanism of ESM1 in prostate cancer. We found that ESM1 knockdown in prostate cancer cells resulted in increased cell proliferation and colony formation ability response evidenced by decreased expression of p21 and increased expression of cyclin D1 in prostate cancer cells. Moreover, we revealed that knockdown ESM1 also induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), motility and invasiveness in accordance with the upregulated the MMP-9 expression, while downregulated the TIMP-1 expression. Recombinant human (Rh) TIMP-1 significantly attenuated ESM1-mediated cell migration and invasion. Additionally, ESM1 knockdown increased in vivo tumorigenicity and metastasis of prostate cancer cells. These findings provide the first evidence that the imbalance of MMP-9/TIMP-1, is one of the regulation mechanisms by which ESM1 promotes tumorigenicity and metastasis of prostate cancer cells.

Keywords: endothelial cell specific molecule 1; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; metastasis; prostate cancer cells; tumorigenicity.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / physiology
  • Fluorescent Antibody Technique
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic / physiology*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Heterografts
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 / biosynthesis*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Nude
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / pathology
  • Neoplasm Proteins / metabolism*
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Prostatic Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Proteoglycans / metabolism*
  • Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / biosynthesis*

Substances

  • ESM1 protein, human
  • Neoplasm Proteins
  • Proteoglycans
  • TIMP1 protein, human
  • Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1
  • MMP9 protein, human
  • Matrix Metalloproteinase 9