Introduction
Endometrial cancer (EC) is the commonest gynecologic malignancy in the US and other Western nations [
1]. Asian nations such as China and Japan have an incidence that is 4-5 times lower than in Western nations [
2]. However, the incidence of EC in Asian countries has markedly increased in recent years [
3]. Patients with advanced-stage EC frequently exhibit a poor prognosis, even after radical resection combined with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. These poor outcomes are closely associated with the progression and metastasis of the disease. Thus, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying the aggressive behavior of EC is necessary to identify potential targets for efficient therapy.
The tumor suppressor gene
TP53 regulates the expression of genes involved in cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and DNA damage repair [
4].
TP53 is mutated in more than half of human tumors. These mutations lead to single amino acid changes that influence the sequence-specific binding or the conformation of the mutant protein, abrogating its ability to induce the transcription of target genes (loss of function). It has been shown that p53 mutants exert dominant negative effects on co-expressed wild-type p53 (dominant-negative effects) [
5,
6]. Previous studies also indicated certain p53 mutations may confer oncogenic properties (gain-of-function, GOF) beyond their negative transdomination over the wild-type p53 tumor suppressor functions. These GOF effects include enhanced cancer cell proliferation and increased tumorigenicity
in vivo [
7‐
10], suggesting that GOF activity of p53 mutation may play an important role in tumor progression. However, little is known about GOF effects on tumor cell invasive activity. A common p53 mutant p53-R175H has been previously shown to possess a marked anti-apoptotic GOF in lung cancer cells [
11]. In human EC, p53 mutations are more frequently identified in aggressive nonendometrioid cancer [
12]. However, the precise role and the molecular mechanism of GOF properties of p53 mutants in EC progression and metastasis are poorly understood.
In this report, we sought to investigate the consequences of up-regulation and down-regulation of GOF p53 mutant (p53-R175H) on EC cell migration and invasion. Furthermore, we examined the molecular mechanisms by which p53-R175H over-expression lead to invasive phenotype in EC. We showed, for the first time, that elevated expression of p53-R175H in EC cells can display GOF effects to promote the invasive potential by activation of the EGFR/PI3K/AKT pathway.
Materials and methods
Cell lines and cell culture
The EC cell line KLE [
13] harboring a p53 missense at codon 175 (p53-R175H, CGC > CAC) was obtained from the Cell Bank of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai (China) and grown in Ham's F12 medium containing 10% heat-inactivated fetal bovine serum. The cells were maintained at 37°C under a humidified 5% CO
2 atmosphere.
Construction of expression vector expressing p53 GOF mutation p53-R175H and stable transfection
pCMV-p53 expression vector, which carries wt p53, was purchased from Clontech Laboratories, Inc. The corresponding empty vector named pCMV was made from pCMV-p53 by removing p53 sequence and religating the vector. pCMV-p53mt175 expression vector, which contains mutant p53-R175H, was generated from pCMV-p53 by the QuickChange mutagenesis system (Stratagene) following the manufacturer's recommendations. The primer sequence used for mutagenesis is 5'-GTGAGGCACTGCCCCCAC (forward) and 5'-GTGGGGGCAGTGCCTCAC-3' (reverse). The sequences of the mutation constructs were verified with an ABI 3100 sequencer (Applied Biosystems). Stable transfection of pCMV-p53mt175 and pCMV vector was performed using Lipofectamine PLUS Reagent (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) according to the manufacturer's instructions. The transfected cells were selected in medium containing G418 (200 mg/ml). Independent clones were isolated, expanded, and screened for the expression of p53 protein expression by Western blotting. KLE cells transfected with pCMV-p53mt175 were designated R175H cells, and KLE cells transfected with pCMV vector were designated Vector cells.
Knockdown of p53 GOF mutation p53-R175H using short hairpin RNA
The pSUPER-p53 RNAi System [
14] was used to generate a stable KLE cell line with knocked-down p53 gene by an RNAi approach as described earlier [
15]. In brief, KLE cells at 80% confluency were co-transfected with pSUPER-p53 and pPUR vector (BD Dickinson), or with pSUPER empty vector and pPUR vector, in the ratio 3:1 using the SuperfectR Transfection reagent (Qiagen), respectively. At 48 h after transfection, selection was started using 200 μg/ml G418 (Invitrogen). Resistant clones were characterized for levels of p53 protein by western blot. KLE cells transfected with pSUPER-p53 and pPUR were designated siRNA cells, and KLE cells transfected with pSUPER and pPUR were designated Control siRNA cells.
In vitro Matrigel invasion assay
Matrigel invasion assay was performed using a 24-well invasion chamber system (BD Biosciences, Bedford, MA) with Matrigel membrane (8.0-μm pore), as described in our previous report [
16]. Briefly, each 750 μl of Ham's F12 medium supplemented with 20% FBS and 10 μg/ml of bovine fibronectin (chemoattractant) were placed in the lower compartment of the chamber. In the prewarmed and rehydrated upper compartment, 2 × 10
4 cells in 500 μl of Ham's F12 medium supplemented with 20% FBS were added, and the cells were allowed to migrate through the intermediate membrane for 24 h at 37°C. Membranes were then fixed with 10% neutral-buffered formalin and stained in 5% Giemsa solution. The cells attached to the lower side of the membrane were counted in 10 high-powered (×200) fields under a microscope. Assays were done in triplicate for each experiment, and each experiment was repeated three times.
In vitro cell migration assay
This migration assay was a modification of the assay described previously [
17], which measured cell migration through an 8.0-μm pored membrane (BD Biosciences, Bedford, MA). In the lower chamber, 600 μl of Ham's F12 medium containing 20% FBS and 10 μg/ml of bovine fibronectin was placed. 2 × 10
4 cells in 100 μl of Ham's F12 medium supplemented with 20% FBS were placed in the upper chamber. After 6 h-incubation, the number of migrated cells (lower side of the membrane) was counted as described above. Assays were done in triplicate for each experiment, and each experiment was repeated three times.
Western blot analysis
Whole cellular protein was obtained with M-Per Mammalian Protein Extraction Reagent (Pierce, Rockford, IL). The aliquots were separated on SDS-PAGE (10%) and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Antigen-antibody complexes were detected ECL blotting analysis system (Amersham Biosicences). The following primary antibodies were used: p53 (DO-1, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), EGFR antibody (2-18C9, Dako, Denmark), phosphorylated EGFR antibody (pEGFR, Tyr1173, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), AKT antibody (Cell Signaling Technology), phosphorylated AKT antibody (p-AKT, Ser473, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), ERK1/2 antibody (K-23, Santa Cruz Biotechnology), phosphorylated ERK1/2 antibody (p-ERK1/2, T183/Y185, Abcam plc) and G3PDH (sc-25778, Santa Cruz Biotechnology). EGFR inhibitor PD153035 was from Calbiochem.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were performed using the SPSS 10.0 software package (SPSS Inc., IL). The invasion and migration assay was analyzed by two-sided Student's t test. Statistically significance was defined as P < 0.05.
Discussion
Previous studies have demonstrated that gain-of-function of p53 cancer mutants could play important roles in carcinogenesis of various types of human cancers [
24]. For example, p53 mutants can enhanced tumorigenic potential in nude mice and enhanced plating efficiency in agar cell culture [
25]. These gain-of-functions of p53 cancer mutants acquire novel oncogenic activities, which may account for the close correlation between the expression of p53 mutants and the poor prognosis of patients with EC [
26]. Moreover, p53 mutations are frequently detected in patients with high-grade serous and clear cell carcinomas, which are associated with an aggressive clinical course [
12], suggesting the possibility that p53 mutations mediate features of the invasive and metastatic behavior of EC cells. However, little information is available regarding the consequence of GOF p53 mutant expression in EC progression. Therefore, in this study, we investigated the possible GOF roles of mutant p53 protein R175H in cell invasion and migration in EC KLE cells. Our data suggested that up-regulation of p53-R175H dramatically enhanced cell invasion and migration in KLE cells as shown in cell invasion and migration assay (Figure.
1). Conversely, down-regulation of p53-R175H by siRNA significantly attenuated the invasive potential of KLE cells (Figure.
2). Previous study showed p53-R175H can endow p53-negative T-ALL cells with the capacity to disseminate, and induce lymphohematopoietic metastatic potential and tissue invasiveness in SCID mice [
27]. Thus, our results provided the in vitro evidence in support of the role of GOF activities of certain p53 mutant as an oncogene in EC progression.
Ample evidences support the critical role EGFR in tumor growth and progression, including angiogenesis, tumor cell proliferation and metastasis [
19]. EGFR expression is increased in various cancer types, including endometrial cancer [
18]. High levels of EGFR protein expression strongly correlates with tumor metastasis and poor prognosis in EC [
28,
29]. Previous study showed an association between p53 mutation and EGFR in bladder cancer [
30]. Mutant p53-R175H has also been shown to activate the EGFR promoter in human osteosarcoma Saos-2 cells [
21]. EGFR activation triggers the downstream PI3K/AKT and MEK/ERK signaling pathways [
31]. Therefore, in this study, we determined the possible mechanisms by which p53-R175H could promote invasion ability in EC cells in regulation of EGFR/PI3K/AKT and EGFR/MEK/ERK pathway. Our present data suggested that over-expression of p53-R175H led to enhanced EGFR phosphorylation, and subsequently activation of PI3K/AKT pathway, but had no effect on the MEK/ERK pathway in KLE cells (Figure.
3). These results were supported by earlier reports that over-expression of EGFR in prostate and ovarian cancer was associated with activation of the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway [
22,
23]. Moreover, treatment of EGFR inhibitor abolished p53-R175H-induced cell invasion and migration and attenuated activation of AKT (Figure.
4), suggesting GOF effects of this mutant could drive invasive characteristics in EC cells through EGFR/PI3K/AKT-dependent pathway. However, our study is still limited for utilizing the cell line that expresses p53-R175H. Further experiments using p53-null EC cell lines are needed to confirm whether or not this mutation can show GOF properties to activate the EGFR/PI3K/AKT pathway, subsequently to enhance EC metastasis.
Overall, the results of this study show the possibility that GOF activity of p53-R175H contributes to an aggressive phenotype to EC cells, at least in part through the ability of p53-R175H to associate with active EGFR, subsequently resulting in the activation of its downstream PI3K/AKT signaling pathway.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors' contributions
Dong PX designed research; Dong PX, Xu ZJ and Jia N carried out the molecular genetic studies; Dong PX, Li DJ and Feng YJ analyzed data; Dong PX wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.