Abstract
Background
Cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), a primary hepatobiliary malignancy, is characterized by a poor prognosis and a lack of effective treatments. Therefore, the need to explore novel therapeutic approaches is urgent. While the role of Peptidylprolyl Cis/Trans Isomerase, NIMA-Interacting 1 (PIN1) has been extensively studied in various tumor types, its involvement in CCA remains poorly understood.
Methods
In this study, we employed tissue microarray (TMA), reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database to assess the expression of PIN1. Through in vitro and in vivo functional experiments, we investigated the impact of PIN1 on the adhesion and metastasis of CCA. Additionally, we explored downstream molecular pathways using RNA-seq, western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation, immunofluorescence, and mass spectrometry techniques.
Results
Our findings revealed a negative correlation between PIN1 overexpression and prognosis in CCA tissues. Furthermore, high PIN1 expression promoted CCA cell proliferation and migration. Mechanistically, PIN1 functioned as an oncogene by regulating ANXA2 phosphorylation, thereby promoting CCA adhesion. Notably, the interaction between PIN1 and ANXA2 was facilitated by RACK1. Importantly, pharmacological inhibition of PIN1 using the FDA-approved drug all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) effectively suppressed the metastatic potential of CCA cells in a nude mouse lung metastasis model.
Conclusion
Overall, our study emphasizes the critical role of the PIN1/RACK1/ANXA2 complex in CCA growth and functionality, highlighting the potential of targeting PIN1 as a promising therapeutic strategy for CCA.
Graphical Abstract
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Data availability
The datasets collected and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request, and the other part of the study data is detailed in the supplementary material.
Abbreviations
- APL:
-
Acute promyelocytic leukemia
- ATRA:
-
All-trans-retinoic acid
- ATO:
-
Arsenic trioxide
- CCA:
-
Cholangiocarcinoma
- CCK-8:
-
Cell counting kit-8
- DMSO:
-
Dimethyl sulfoxide
- GEO:
-
Gene expression omnibus
- PIN1:
-
Peptidylprolyl cis/trans isomerase, NIMA-interacting 1
- PDAC:
-
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
- PBS:
-
Phosphate-buffered saline
- ICC:
-
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma
- IP:
-
Immunoprecipitation
- IF:
-
Immunofluorescence
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Acknowledgements
We acknowledge our colleagues for their valuable efforts and comments on this paper.
Funding
We gratefully acknowledge the support of the following grants for this work: National Natural Science Foundation of China (81472306), National Natural Science Foundation of China (82102150), Special Fund for Talents of the Jiangsu Province Hospital (YNRCZN015), and the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20210968).
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Conception and design: YMW, GWJ, XFW; Development of methodology: YMW, YWL, WJJ, XX, JJS, JC, TZ; Collection and acquisition of data: YMW, ZGX, HRC, JFW, ALCY; Analysis of data: YMW, ZGX, HRC, SLF, ZFT, KS; Writing, review, and/or revision of the manuscript: YMW, YWL, XCL, XFC, GWJ, XFW. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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This study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, and informed consent was obtained from each participant. Animal studies were approved by the Nanjing Medical University (NJMU) Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (Quorum No. IACUC-2203004).
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Wang, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, H. et al. PIN1 promotes the metastasis of cholangiocarcinoma cells by RACK1-mediated phosphorylation of ANXA2. Cell Oncol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-024-00924-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13402-024-00924-y