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STAT3-induced NCK1 elevation promotes migration of triple-negative breast cancer cells via regulating ERK1/2 signaling

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Abstract

Background

Noncatalytic region of tyrosine kinase 1 (NCK1) plays a key role in extracellular matrix degradation, which is required for the metastasis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). However, the role NCK1 plays in the metastatic progression of TNBC is unknown.

Methods and results

Based on online databases, NCK1 was found to be highly expressed in TNBC as compared to normal breast-like subjects, which was also confirmed using TNBC cells and a tissue microarray. NCK1 expression gradually decreased with increased tumor stage. High NCK1 expression displayed a poor prognosis in lymph node-positive metastatic TNBC patients, but not in lymph node-negative patients. Using transwell assays and immunoblotting, we confirmed that NCK1 overexpression promoted, while NCK1 downregulation inhibited migration capabilities, as well as the expression of matrix metalloproteinases (MMP2/9), uridylyl phosphate adenosine, and plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 in TNBC cells. Mechanistically, NCK1 upregulation mediated the activation of MMP2/9 through ERK1/2 activity. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) was positively correlated with NCK1. STAT3 could directly bind to the promoter region of NCK1 to promote its expression and was accompanied by the elevation of MMP2/9 and ERK1/2 signaling, which were partially abolished by the knockdown of NCK1 in TNBC cells.

Conclusions

NCK1 may serve as a diagnostic and prognostic marker of metastatic TNBC. STAT3 upregulation promoted the expression of NCK1, which subsequently induced the migration and activity of MMPs in a ERK1/2 signaling-dependent manner in TNBC cells. NCK1 is a promising target for improving TNBC migration.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article and its additional files.

Abbreviations

TNBC:

Triple-negative breast cancer

ECM:

Extracellular matrix

NCK1:

Noncatalytic region of tyrosine kinase 1

TCGA:

The Cancer Genome Atlas

GEPIA:

Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis

MMPs:

Matrix metalloproteinases

uPA:

Uridylyl phosphate adenosine

PAI-1:

Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1

ER:

Estrogen receptor

PR:

Progesterone receptor

HER2:

Receptor tyrosine-protein kinase erbB-2

BRCA:

Breast carcinoma

CSCC:

Cervical squamous cell carcinoma

CRC:

Colorectal cancer

STAT3:

Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3

ERK:

Extracellular signal-regulated kinase

FGF2:

Fibroblast growth factor 2

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Acknowledgements

We thank the pathologists Chi-Meng Tzeng, Zhiming Zhang, Xianyang Luo and Shuai Chen for analyzing the Immunohistochemical results. We also thank LetPub (www.letpub.com) for its linguistic assistance during the preparation of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported by Youth Fund of Pingdingshan University (PXY-QNJJ-202108) and Henan Provincial Key Science and Technology Research Projects (No. 192102310087).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medicine, Pingdingshan University, Chongwen Rd., Xincheng District, Pingdingshan, 467092, China

    Peina He, Jinxu Qi, Xianguang Bai, Jiaxin Li, Yamin Yuan & Xinhua Zheng

  2. Department of Gynecotokology, Pingdingshan First People’s Hospital, Pingdingshan, 410402, China

    Jianyun Sheng & Fubao Wang

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  1. Peina He
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Contributions

ZXH conceived the idea and designed the project; HPN performed the in vitro experiments and analysed the data based on the online database; SJY and QJX performed the Transwell assay; BXG performed the qRT-PCR assay; LJX determined the cell viability measurement. WFB and YYM collected the online data and performed the IHC staining assay. ZXH and HPN drafted the text; All authors edited and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xinhua Zheng.

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Conflict of interest

All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form. The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethical approval

All experiments were approved by the Ethics Committee of Pingdingshan University.

Informed consent

The data analyzed in this study all were downloaded from online database. And the study did implicate in clinical trials. All authors are in agreement with the content of the manuscript. All authors discussed the results and edited this manuscript.

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Supplementary Information

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11033_2021_6868_MOESM1_ESM.tif

Supplementary file1 Figure S1. Clinical value of NCK1 in breast cancer subjects. (A) TNBC patients were divided into three classifications based on different tumor stages (according to SBR classified method: SBR1 (n=544), SBR2 (n=1699), and SBR3 (n=1374)). Subsequently, multiple comparisons between NCK1 expression and SBR classifications were determined by an one-way ANOVA using Tukey’s test. (B) Survival analysis was determined using GEPIA 2.0 in breast cancer patients with low (n=534) and high NCK1 expression (n=534). (TIF 424 kb)

11033_2021_6868_MOESM2_ESM.tif

Supplementary file2 Supplementary Figure 2 Effect of NCK1 on cell proliferation of TNBC cells. MDA-MB-468 and BT549 cells were transfected with NCK1-overexpressed plasmid or NCK1 shRNA. Then cell viabilities in MDA-MB-468 (A) and BT549 (B) cells were determined by CCK8 assay. All assays were performed three times (n=3). (TIF 363 kb)

11033_2021_6868_MOESM3_ESM.tif

Supplementary file3 Figure S3. Effect of NCK1 on the cell invasion of TNBC cells. MDA-MB-468 cells were transfected with NCK1-overexpressing plasmid or NCK1 shRNA. (A) Then the cell invasion in MDA-MB-468 cells was determined by a transwell assay. All assays were performed three times (n=3). (B) The relative quantification of the invasiveness of the cells is shown on the right. Six random sights of each group were selected to conduct the semi-quantitative analysis. **P < 0.01. (TIF 1833 kb)

11033_2021_6868_MOESM4_ESM.tif

Supplementary file4 Figure S4. Association of STAT3 and NCK1 in TNBC and non-TNBC cells. (A) BT-474 cells were transfected with empty vectors, STAT3-overexpressing plasmid, or NCK1 sRNA, and then 48 h later, the luciferase activity of NCK1 was determined by the Dual Luciferase Reporter Assay Kit. All assays were performed three times (n=3). (B) BT-474 cells were treated with or without IL-6 for 30 min. The direct binding of STAT3 to NCK1, the direct binding of STAT3 to SOCS3, and the direct binding of STAT3 to α satellite in BT-474 cells were measured by a chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay. All assays were performed three times (n=3). (C) BT-549 cells were transfected with empty vectors, STAT3-overexpressing plasmid, or NCK1 sRNA. Subsequently, protein expression of STAT3, ERK1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2, NCK1, MMP-9, and MMP-2 was measured by WB. All assays were performed three times (n=3). The relative quantitative analysis of phosphorylated ERK1/2, STAT3, MMP9/2, and NCK1 is shown in panel C. (D) BT-474 cells were transfected with empty vectors, STAT3-overexpressing plasmid, or NCK1 sRNA. Subsequently, the protein expression of STAT3, ERK1/2, phosphorylated ERK1/2, NCK1, MMP-9, and MMP-2 was measured by WB. All assays were performed three times (n=3). The relative quantitative analysis of phosphorylated ERK1/2, STAT3, MMP9/2, and NCK1 is shown in panel D. *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01. (TIF 1110 kb)

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He, P., Sheng, J., Qi, J. et al. STAT3-induced NCK1 elevation promotes migration of triple-negative breast cancer cells via regulating ERK1/2 signaling. Mol Biol Rep 49, 267–278 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11033-021-06868-y

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