J Cancer 2023; 14(18):3496-3507. doi:10.7150/jca.89360 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. School of Medicine, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China.
2. Department of Pediatric Surgery, Guangzhou Institute of Pediatrics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Research in Structural Birth Defect Disease, Guangzhou Women and Children's Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou 510623, Guangdong, China.
3. Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmacy, Binzhou Medical University, Yantai, 264003, China.
4. Laboratory Animal Center, School of Chemical Biology and Biotechnology, Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School, Shenzhen 518055, China.
*These authors contributed equally: Huiqin Guo, Wei-Xin Zhang and Qiu-yan Zhang
Background: Neuroblastoma (NB) is a cancer that arises from neural-crest-derived sympathoadrenal lineage. Less is known about the pathogenesis and molecular characteristics of MYCN non-amplified (MYCN-NA) NB.
Methods: We constructed a signature model targeting mucin family according to RNA sequencing data from GSE49710 dataset, and validated the prognostic performance. We also analyzed the gene expression matrix using DESeq2 R packages to screen the most differential mucin in high-risk NB samples. We further assessed its prognostic value, particularly in MYCN-NA NB samples. Moreover, we performed functional experiments to evaluate the impact of MUC15 overexpression on the migration of MYCN-NA NB cell lines.
Results: The 8-mucin signature model showed good prognostic performance in the GSE49710 dataset. Among the mucin genes, MUC15 was significantly upregulated in the high-risk NB cohort and was associated with poor prognosis, especially in MYCN-NA NB samples. Furthermore, MUC15 overexpression and exogenous MUC15 protein enhanced the migration of MYCN-NA NB cell lines. Mechanistically, MUC15 promoted the phosphorylation of focal adhesion kinase (FAK) by inhibiting the expression of MYCT1, a target of c-Myc.
Conclusions: Our findings suggested a potential network in controlling NB cell metastasis. Targeting MUC15 in MYCN-NA NB patients could be a promising therapeutic strategy.
Keywords: MUC15, neuroblastoma, MYCN non-amplified, metastases, MYCT1