1. Academic Validation
  2. Aphthous ulcer drug inhibits prostate tumor metastasis by targeting IKKɛ/TBK1/NF-κB signaling

Aphthous ulcer drug inhibits prostate tumor metastasis by targeting IKKɛ/TBK1/NF-κB signaling

  • Theranostics. 2018 Sep 9;8(17):4633-4648. doi: 10.7150/thno.26687.
Chaping Cheng 1 2 Zhongzhong Ji 1 2 Yaru Sheng 1 Jinming Wang 1 Yujiao Sun 2 Huifang Zhao 1 Xiaoxia Li 1 Xue Wang 1 2 Yuman He 1 Jufang Yao 1 Li Wang 1 Chenlu Zhang 1 Yanjing Guo 1 Jianming Zhang 3 Wei-Qiang Gao 1 2 Helen He Zhu 1 4
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Oncogenes and Related Genes, Renji-Med-X Stem Cell Research Center, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China.
  • 2 School of Biomedical Engineering & Med-X Research Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200030, China.
  • 3 National Research Center for Translational Medicine, Shanghai State Key Laboratory of Medical Genomics, Rui-Jin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
  • 4 Department of Urology, Ren Ji Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200127, China.
Abstract

Tumor metastasis is the major cause of death for prostate Cancer (PCa) patients. However, the treatment options for metastatic PCa are very limited. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been reported to be an indispensable step for tumor metastasis and is suggested to associate with acquisition of Cancer stem cell (CSC) attributes. We propose that small-molecule compounds that can reverse EMT or induce mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) of PCa cells may serve as drug candidates for anti-metastasis therapy. Methods: The promoters of CDH1 and VIM genes were sub-cloned to drive the expression of firefly and renilla luciferase reporter in a lentiviral vector. Mesenchymal-like PCa cells were infected with the luciferase reporter lentivirus and subjected to drug screening from a 1274 approved small-molecule drug library for the identification of agents to reverse EMT. The dosage-dependent effect of candidate compounds was confirmed by luciferase reporter assay and immunoblotting. Wound-healing assay, sphere formation, transwell migration assay, and in vivo intracardiac and orthotopic tumor xenograft experiments were used to evaluate the mobility, metastasis and tumor initiating capacity of PCa cells upon treatment. Possible downstream signaling pathways affected by the candidate compound treatment were analyzed by RNA sequencing and immunoblotting. Results: Drug screening identified Amlexanox, a drug used for recurrent aphthous ulcers, as a strong agent to reverse EMT. Amlexanox induced significant suppression of cell mobility, invasion, serial sphere formation and in vivo metastasis and tumor initiating capacity of PCa cells. Amlexanox treatment led to downregulation of the IKK-ɛ/ TBK1/ NF-κB signaling pathway. The effect of Amlexanox on EMT reversion and cell mobility inhibition can be mimicked by other IKK-ɛ/TBK1 inhibitors and rescued by reconstitution of dominant active NF-κB. Conclusions: Amlexanox can sufficiently suppress PCa metastasis by reversing EMT through downregulating the IKK-ɛ/TBK1/NF-κB signaling axis.

Keywords

Amlexanox; IKK-ɛ/TBK1; mesenchymal-epithelial transition; metastasis; prostate cancer.

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