TGFβ-induced SMAD4-dependent Apoptosis Proceeded by EMT in CRC.

Abstract

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths worldwide. In Saudi Arabia, colorectal cancer is more aggressive and presents at younger age, warranting new treatment strategies. Role of TGFβ/Smad4 signaling pathway in initiation and progression of colorectal cancer is well documented. This study examined the role of TGFβ/Smad4 signaling pathway in a large cohort of Saudi patients with colorectal cancer, followed by in vitro analysis to dissect the dual role of TGFβ on inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and apoptosis. Our study demonstrated high frequency of Smad4 alterations with low expression of Smad4 protein identifying a subgroup of aggressive colorectal cancer to be an independent marker for poor prognosis. Functional studies using colorectal cancer cells show that TGFβ induces Smad4-dependent EMT followed by apoptosis. Induction of mesenchymal transcriptional factors, Snail1 and Zeb1, was essential for TGFβ-induced apoptosis. Our results indicate that KLF5 acts as an oncogene in colorectal cancer cells regardless of Smad4 expression and inhibition of KLF5 is requisite for TGFβ-induced apoptosis. Furthermore, TGFβ/Smad4 signal inhibits the transcription of KLF5 that in turn switches Sox4 from tumor promoter to suppressor. A high incidence of Smad4 alterations were found in the Saudi patients with colorectal cancer. Functional study results indicate that TGFβ induces Smad4-dependent EMT followed by apoptosis in colorectal cancer cells.

• Authors: Abdul K Siraj, Poyil Pratheeshkumar, Sasidharan Padmaja Divya, Sandeep Kumar Parvathareddy, Rong Bu, Tariq Masoodi, Yan Kong, Saravanan Thangavel, Nasser Al-Sanea, Luai H Ashari, Alaa Abduljabbar, Samar Al-Homoud, Fouad Al-Dayel, Khawla S Al-Kuraya
• Journal: Molecular cancer therapeutics (Mol Cancer Ther) Vol. 18 Issue 7 Pg. 1312-1322 (07 2019) ISSN: 1538-8514 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 31053577 (Publication Type: Journal Article)
• Copyright: ©2019 American Association for Cancer Research.

Chemical References

• Transforming Growth Factor beta

Topics

• Aged
• Apoptosis
• Cell Line, Tumor
• Colorectal Neoplasms (genetics, metabolism)
• Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Transfection
• Transforming Growth Factor beta (metabolism)