The research of VEPH1 regulates epithelial mesenchymal transition and proliferation of melanoma cells through the TGF-β signaling pathway / 中国医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the intervention effect of ventricular zone expressed PH domain-containing 1 (VEPH1) on epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) and proliferation of human cutaneous melanoma (CM) cells based onthe transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) signaling pathway.Methods:The melanoma cells were cultured in vitro. After transfecting the melanoma cells with overexpression or interference plasmids of VEPH1 or TGF-β overexpression plasmids, or treating the cells with SB-431542 (TGF-β pathway inhibitor), we detected the expression of genes and proteins relevant to VEPH1, TGF-β, and EMT by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot to observe the effect of these proteins on CM cell proliferation. Results:qRT-PCR results showed that the expression of VEPH1 in melanoma cells (B16-BL6, B16 and A375 cells) was significantly lower than that in HaCaT cells, and the lowest expression was found in A375 cells, so A375 cells were selected for follow-up experiments. After transfection with VEPH1 overexpression plasmid or SB-431542, the mRNA and protein expression of E-cadherin in A375 cells were significantly increased, the mRNA and protein expressions of TGF-β, Smad4, N-cadherin and vimentin were significantly decreased, and the cell proliferation was significantly decreased ( P<0.05). Compared with the VEPH1 vector group, the expression of TGF-β, Smad4 and N-cadherin in the VEPH1 vector+ SB-431542 group was significantly reduced ( P<0.05); the expression of E-cadherin was increased, and the cell proliferation was also significantly decreased ( P<0.05). The expression of TGF-β, Smad4, N-cadherin and vimentin were increased after co-transfection with VEPH1 vector, while the expression of E-cadherin was decreased, and the cell proliferation was also enhanced ( P<0.05). The expression of VEPH1 in A375 cells was significantly decreased after transfection with si-VEPH1 plasmid, while that in SB-431542 and TGF-β vector group was not significantly decreased. Conclusions:VEPH1 can inhibit human CM cells by the intervention on TGF-β signaling pathway. This study reveals the potential of VEPH1 as a diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic target for CM.