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Recombinant water stress protein 1 (Re-WSP1) suppresses colon cancer cell growth through the miR-539/β-catenin signaling pathway

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Abstract

Background

Nostoc commune Vauch. is a nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae that expresses a large number of active molecules with medicinal properties. Our previous study found that a water stress protein (WSP1) from N. commune and its recombinant counterpart (Re-WSP1) exhibited significant anti-colon cancer activity both in vitro and in vivo. This study is to investigate the effects of Re-WSP1 on proliferation of colon cancer cells and to elucidate the relevant mechanisms.

Methods

Real-time quantitative PCR was used to detect the expression of miR-539 in colon cancer HT-29 and DLD1 cells. Colon cancer cells were transfected with miR-539 mimics and negative controls, and cell proliferation were detected by CCK8 and clonogenic assays. The target gene of miR-539 was predicted, and the dual luciferase reporter gene experiment was used to verify the target gene. After colon cancer cells were transfected with miR-539 mimics or inhibitors, the expression of target gene β-catenin was detected by Western blot. miR-539 inhibitor confirmed cell proliferation.

Results

Re-WSP1 inhibited colon cancer cell growth in a dose-dependent manner. Re-WSP1 inhibited the expression of β-catenin, which was partly reversed by LiCl treatment. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression of miR-539 was significantly upregulated after Re-WSP1 treatment. Moreover, miR-539 negatively regulated the expression of β-catenin by directly binding to the 3′UTR of β-catenin mRNA. The cell growth inhibition and the decrease in β-catenin expression induced by Re-WSP1 were significantly reversed by miR-539 inhibitor.

Conclusion

Re-WSP1 suppresses colon cancer cell growth via the miR-539/β-catenin axis.

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Data availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Funding

This research was supported by the Shanxi Province Science Foundation for Youths (201601D021108) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 81603020).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nephrology Department, Shanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, 29 Twin Pagoda Temple Street, Taiyuan, China

    Songjia Guo & Huiqiang Hao

  2. School of Life Science, Shanxi University, 92 Wucheng Road, Taiyuan, Shanxi, China

    Shuhua Shan, Haili Wu & Zhuoyu Li

Authors
  1. Songjia Guo
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  2. Shuhua Shan
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  4. Huiqiang Hao
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  5. Zhuoyu Li
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All the authors contributed to the collection of references, the contents of the article and the charts.

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Correspondence to Zhuoyu Li.

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Guo, S., Shan, S., Wu, H. et al. Recombinant water stress protein 1 (Re-WSP1) suppresses colon cancer cell growth through the miR-539/β-catenin signaling pathway. Mol Biol Rep 48, 7059–7065 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-021-06549-w

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