Involvement of FAK-ERK2 signaling pathway in CKAP2-induced proliferation and motility in cervical carcinoma cell lines.

Cervical carcinoma is the fourth most common cause of death in woman, caused by human papillomavirus (HPV) infections and arising from the cervix. Cytoskeleton-associated protein 2 (CKAP2), also known as tumor-associated microtubule-associated protein, has been linked to tumorigenic effects. In the present study, we screened CKAP2 as a new candidate gene which promotes development of cervical carcinoma, in two independent datasets (TCGA and GSE27678). Results showed that CKAP2 expression was significantly up-regulated in cervical cancerous tissues compared with normal counterparts. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) showed that metastasis, cell cycle and FAK pathways were related with elevated CKAP2 expression. Knockdown of CKAP2 expression significantly inhibited cell proliferation, migration and invasion both in HeLa and C-33A cells. And depletion of CKAP2 down-regulated the expression of metastasis and cell cycle related proteins as well as the phosphorylation of ERK2 (p-ERK2), except E-cadherin. In vivo experiment revealed that knockdown of CKAP2 inhibited C-33A cells proliferation. However, FAK inhibitor PF-562271 and ERK2 inhibitor VX-11e treatment significantly inhibited CKAP2 overexpression-induced cell proliferation, migration and invasion in SiHa cells. In conclusion, our study suggests that CKAP2 acts as a functional oncogene in cervical carcinoma development and may exert its function by targeting FAK-ERK2 signaling pathway.

[Expression of glyoxalase I and its effect on cell proliferation and apoptosis in endometrial carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To examine the expressions of glyoxalase I (GLO-I) in endometrial cancer tissues and cell lines and to investigate the roles of GLO-I on proliferation and apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry, western blot and RT-PCR were used to investigate the expressions of GLO-I protein and mRNA in endometrial cancer tissues and Ishikawa cell lines;enzyme activity of GLO-I in normal endometrium, endometrial cancer and paraneoplastic tissue samples was detected with spectrophotometer;proliferation and apoptosis of Ishikawa cell before and after RNA interference (RNAi) procedure were detected by the methyl thiazolyl tetrazolium (MTT) and flow cytometry, respectively. RESULTS: (1) There were significant differences of GLO-I expression between normal endometrium (0/19) and endometrial cancer tissues (76%, 22/29); these were also significant differences of enzyme activity of GLO-I among normal endometrium, paraneoplastic and endometrial cancer tissues (1.1, 0.8 vs 92.3 IU/mg; P < 0.01). Enzyme activity of GLO-I in fresh normal endometrium and paraneoplastic tissues was weak, while that of fresh endometrial cancer tissues was as high as 92.3 IU/mg in average. (2) The expression of GLO-I mRNA in Ishikawa cell transfected with GLO-I siRNA was significantly lower than that in negative group (0.25 ± 0.06 vs 0.93 ± 0.10, P < 0.01), and the similar results that in the expression of GLO-I protein (0.38 ± 0.06 vs 0.94 ± 0.13, P < 0.01). (3) Proliferation in Ishikawa cell was significantly inhibited after silencing RNA expression of GLO-I (P = 0.028). The apoptosis rate of cells transfected with GLO-I siRNA was significantly higher than that of negative control group and blank control group [(6.7 ± 0.8) % vs (1.2 ± 0.4)%, (1.4 ± 0.4)%; P < 0.01]. CONCLUSION: The expression and enzyme activity of GLO-I is significantly increased in endometrial cancer, which could promote abnormal proliferation and inhibit apoptosis in endometrial cancer cells.

[The clinical application of spectral karyotyping in the analysis of chromosomal abnormalities].

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate value of spectral karyotyping (SKY) in the detection of chromosomal abnormalities. METHODS: A total of 17 metaphase chromosome samples were investigated by SKY, including 10 normal and 5 balanced translocation samples of peripheral blood lymphocytes, one der(Y) sample of peripheral blood lymphocytes and one marker chromosome sample of amniotic fluid cells. The results were compared with those of G-banding diagnosis. RESULTS: Ten normal and 5 balanced translocation samples were diagnosed successfully by SKY in accordance with the results of G-banding; furthermore, SKY analysis revealed that the der(Y) fragment originated from p-arm of chromosome 21 while the marker chromosome originated from chromosome 5. CONCLUSION: SKY is a very sensitive and specific whole genome analysis tool for chromosomal abnormality diagnosis, and exceedingly valuable in the diagnosis on complex chromosomal abnormalities that can not be determined by G-banding.