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ABSTRACT: Background and aims
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is characterized by high resistance to chemotherapy and poor prognosis. Several oncogenic pathways converge on activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5), whose role in CCA has not been explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of ERK5 in the biology of CCA.Approach and results
ERK5 expression was detected in two established (HuCCT-1 and CCLP-1) and two primary human intrahepatic CCA cell lines (iCCA58 and iCCA60). ERK5 phosphorylation was increased in CCA cells exposed to soluble mediators. In both HuCCT-1 and CCLP-1 cells, ERK5 was localized in the nucleus, and exposure to fetal bovine serum (FBS) further increased the amount of nuclear ERK5. In human CCA specimens, ERK5 mRNA expression was increased in tumor cells and positively correlated with portal invasion. ERK5 protein levels were significantly associated with tumor grade. Growth, migration, and invasion of CCA cells were decreased when ERK5 was silenced using specific short hairpin RNA (shRNA). The inhibitory effects on CCA cell proliferation, migration and invasion were recapitulated by treatment with small molecule inhibitors targeting ERK5. In addition, expression of the angiogenic factors VEGF and angiopoietin 1 was reduced after ERK5 silencing. Conditioned medium from ERK5-silenced cells had a lower ability to induce tube formation by human umbilical vein endothelial cells and to induce migration of myofibroblasts and monocytes/macrophages. In mice, subcutaneous injection of CCLP-1 cells silenced for ERK5 resulted in less frequent tumor development and smaller size of xenografts compared with cells transfected with nontargeting shRNA.Conclusions
ERK5 is a key mediator of growth and migration of CCA cells and supports a protumorigenic crosstalk between the tumor and the microenvironment.
SUBMITTER: Gentilini A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC8518067 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Gentilini Alessandra A Lori Giulia G Caligiuri Alessandra A Raggi Chiara C Di Maira Giovanni G Pastore Mirella M Piombanti Benedetta B Lottini Tiziano T Arcangeli Annarosa A Madiai Stefania S Navari Nadia N Banales Jesus M JM Di Matteo Sabina S Alvaro Domenico D Duwe Lea L Andersen Jesper B JB Tubita Alessandro A Tusa Ignazia I Di Tommaso Luca L Campani Claudia C Rovida Elisabetta E Marra Fabio F
Hepatology (Baltimore, Md.) 20210705 4
<h4>Background and aims</h4>Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) is characterized by high resistance to chemotherapy and poor prognosis. Several oncogenic pathways converge on activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 5 (ERK5), whose role in CCA has not been explored. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of ERK5 in the biology of CCA.<h4>Approach and results</h4>ERK5 expression was detected in two established (HuCCT-1 and CCLP-1) and two primary human intrahepatic CCA cell lines (iCCA ...[more]