1. Academic Validation
  2. METTL7B Is Required for Cancer Cell Proliferation and Tumorigenesis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

METTL7B Is Required for Cancer Cell Proliferation and Tumorigenesis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

  • Front Pharmacol. 2020 Feb 28;11:178. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2020.00178.
Dongcheng Liu 1 2 Wei Li 1 3 Fuhua Zhong 1 Jianhua Yin 4 Wei Zhou 1 Shixuan Li 5 Xuefeng Sun 5 Jing Xu 6 Guofeng Li 5 Yuxin Wen 5 Jiaqing Wang 5 Malin Hong 1 Zhiqiang Cheng 3 6 Jimin Yuan 7 Lingyun Dai 7 Jichao Sun 7 Jigang Wang 7 Chen Qiu 8 Guangsuo Wang 5 Chang Zou 1 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Department of Clinical Medical Research Center, The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 2 Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine Postdoctoral Research Station, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
  • 3 Shenzhen Public Service Platform on Tumor Precision Medicine and Molecular Diagnosis, the Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 4 Laboratory of Molecular Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Southwest Medical University, Luzhou, China.
  • 5 Department of Thoracic Surgery, the First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Sciences and Technology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 6 Department of Pathology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Sciences and Technology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 7 The Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, the First Affiliated Hospital of Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Shenzhen, China.
  • 8 Department of Respiratory and Critical Medicine, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College, Jinan University, Shenzhen, China.
Abstract

Lung Cancer remains a leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide, however, molecular mechanisms underlying lung Cancer tumorigenesis and progression remain unknown. Here, we report evidence showing that one member of the mammalian methyltransferase-like family (METTL), METTL7B, is a potential molecular target for treatment of non-small cell lung Cancer (NSCLC). METTL7B expression was elevated in the majority of NSCLC comparing to normal tissues. Increased expression of METTL7B contributed to advanced stages of tumor development and poor survival in NSCLC patients. Lentivirus-mediated shRNA silencing of METTL7B suppressed proliferation and tumorigenesis of Cancer cells in vitro and in vivo. Investigation on gene expression profiles of NSCLC cells revealed that abundant cell cycle related genes were downregulated in the absence of METTL7B. Pathway enrichment analysis indicated that METTL7B participated in cell cycle regulation. Notably, CCND1, a key regulator for G1/S transition, was significantly decreased with the depletion of METTL7B, resulting in G0/G1 arrest, indicating that METTL7B is critical for cell cycle progression. Taken together, our findings implicate that METTL7B is essential for NSCLC development and progression. METTL7B might serve as a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC.

Keywords

METTL7B; cell cycle; non-small cell lung cancer; proliferation; tumorigenesis.

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