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Overexpression of IGFBP3 is associated with poor prognosis and tumor metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

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Tumor Biology

Abstract

Insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-3 (IGFBP3) is an N-linked glycosylated, phosphorylated protein, which has been reported to regulate cancer progression and metastasis. However, the role of IGFBP3 in tumor metastasis remains under debate. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly metastatic head and neck cancer. And it fails to achieve the desired therapeutic efficacy in patients with metastasis, while the role of IGFBP3 in NPC is still unclear. In this study, we first used immunohistochemistry to explore the expression of IGFBP3 in NPC tissues. We found that IGFBP3 was significantly elevated in NPC and its expression level was correlated with N classification, distant metastasis, and TNM clinical stage (all P < 0.05). Patients with high expression of IGFBP3 had poorer survival rate (P < 0.05). In addition, we found that downregulation of IGFBP3 inhibited cell migration and adhesion by Transwell migration assay, wounding healing assay, and cell adhesion assays in vitro. Besides, NPC cells stimulated with recombinant IGFBP3 accelerated migration and adhesion. These data suggest overexpression of IGFBP3 promotes tumor metastasis in NPC, which makes it a potential therapeutic target.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (Grant nos. 81172841, 81202368, and 81471603), the Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (Grant no. SBK2015022581), the project of Jiangsu Provincial Health Department (Grant no. Z201005), and the scientific and innovative research project of Nantong (no. BK2014003 and HS2014007 201HHS and nos. BK2014003, HS2014007, and 201HHS).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, Jiangsu Province, 226000, China

    Lili Bao, Hao Liu, Bo You, Miao Gu, Si Shi, Ying Shan, Li Li, Jing Chen & Yiwen You

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  1. Lili Bao
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  2. Hao Liu
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  3. Bo You
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  4. Miao Gu
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  5. Si Shi
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  6. Ying Shan
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  7. Li Li
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  8. Jing Chen
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  9. Yiwen You
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Jing Chen or Yiwen You.

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All human tissues were collected using protocols approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University. And the written informed consent was obtained from every patient

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Additional information

Lili Bao and Hao Liu contributed equally to this work.

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Bao, L., Liu, H., You, B. et al. Overexpression of IGFBP3 is associated with poor prognosis and tumor metastasis in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 37, 15043–15052 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5400-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-016-5400-8

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