1. Academic Validation
  2. Absent in melanoma 2 suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition via Akt and inflammasome pathways in human colorectal cancer cells

Absent in melanoma 2 suppresses epithelial-mesenchymal transition via Akt and inflammasome pathways in human colorectal cancer cells

  • J Cell Biochem. 2019 Oct;120(10):17744-17756. doi: 10.1002/jcb.29040.
Yunjia Yang 1 Minda Zhang 1 Chenyu Jin 1 Yang Ding 1 Mengdi Yang 1 Rui Wang 1 Yunjiang Zhou 1 Yang Zhou 1 Tao Li 1 Keke Wang 1 Rong Hu 1
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, Department of Physiology, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, China.
Abstract

Absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) is a critical component in natural immunity system and is closely related to Cancer initiation and development. It has been shown that AIM2 inhibited colorectal Cancer (CRC) development and cell proliferation. It remains unresolved how AIM2 acts on CRC metastasis. In this study, we assessed migration, invasion ability, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) program upon AIM2 overexpression or knockdown in human CRC cells. Transwell assay demonstrated that upregulation of AIM2 reduced cell migration and invasion. Epithelial marker E-cadherin was augmented and mesenchymal markers vimentin, as well as Snail, were examined decreased by Western blot, real-time polymerase chain reaction, and immunofluorescence. Correspondingly, knockdown of AIM2 led to a reverse consequence. In addition, AIM2 regulated Akt phosphorylation and effects of AIM2 on cell invasion and EMT were recovered after administration of Akt Inhibitor, suggesting that AIM2 suppressed EMT dependent on Akt pathway. In addition, Caspase-1 inhibitor exposure indicated that AIM2 abrogated EMT through the inflammasome pathway as well. In summary, AIM2 suppressed EMT via Akt and inflammasome pathways in human CRC cells.

Keywords

AIM2; Akt; CRC; EMT; inflammasome.

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