Silencing of histone deacetylase 3 suppresses the development of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma through regulation of miR-494-mediated TGIF1

  • Cancer Cell Int. 2022 May 16;22(1):191. doi: 10.1186/s12935-022-02581-3.
Yang Yang   #  1 ,  Yuan Zhang   #  1 ,  Zongxiang Lin   #  1 ,  Kai Wu  1 ,  Zhanfeng He  1 ,  Dengyan Zhu  1 ,  Jia Zhao  1 ,  Chunyang Zhang  1 ,  Yuxia Fan  2
Affiliations
  • 1. Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450015, People's Republic of China.
  • 2. Department of Thyroid Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, No. 1, Eastern Jianshe Road, Zhengzhou, 450015, Henan, People's Republic of China. [email protected].
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 35578338 DOI: 10.1186/s12935-022-02581-3
Abstract

Background: Deacetylation of histones by histone deacetylase 3 (HDAC3) acts importantly in modulating Apoptosis, DNA damage and cellular progression. Herein, we aimed to unravel the functional role of HDAC3 in a lethal disease, esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC).

Methods: The expression of HDAC3 in clinically collected ESCC tissues was determined by RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry. As revealed from bioinformatics analysis, the putative relations between HDAC3 and microRNA-494 (miR-494) and between miR-494 and transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ)-inducing factor 1 (TGIF1) were further verified by chromatin immunoprecipitation and dual-luciferase reporter gene assay. Functional roles of shRNA-mediated depletion of HDAC3, miR-494 mimic and overexpressed TGIF1 were explored by gain- and loss-of-function assays with regard to ESCC cell biological behaviors. A nude mouse model of ESCC was developed for in vivo validation.

Results: HDAC3 was highly expressed in ESCC tissues, suggestive of poor prognosis while TGIF1 was upregulated and miR-494 was downregulated. Mechanistic investigation revealed that HDAC3 inhibited miR-494 expression and TGIF1 was a direct target of miR-494. Furthermore, silencing HDAC3 or overexpressing miR-494 was demonstrated to suppress aggressive phenotypes of ESCC cells both in vitro through the activated TGFβ signaling pathway and in vivo, while TGIF1 overexpression induced opposite results.

Conclusion: Collectively, our findings provided demonstration regarding the oncogenic property of HDAC3 in ESCC via the miR-494/TGIF1/TGFβ axis.

Keywords
Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Histone deacetylase 3; Transforming growth factor beta-inducing factor 1; Transforming growth factor-β signaling pathway; microRNA-494.
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