TY - JOUR
T1 - Differential effects of GLI2 and GLI3 in regulating cervical cancer malignancy in vitro and in vivo
AU - Zhu, Haiyan
AU - Xia, Lu
AU - Shen, Qi
AU - Zhao, Menghuang
AU - Gu, Xiang
AU - Bouamar, Hakim
AU - Wang, Bingzhi
AU - Sun, Lu Zhe
AU - Zhu, Xueqiong
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgements This study was in part supported by grants from NIH R01CA172886 and R01CA196214 to L. -Z. S., and from Key Lab of Wenzhou city-Gynecological Oncology to X. Q. Z. Additional support was provided by the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center, which is supported by the NIH NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA054174-17. H. -Y. Z. and Qi Shen were supported by a fellowship from the Second Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University and Key Lab of Wenzhou city-Gynecological Oncology. L. X. and B. W. were in part supported by a fellowship from Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Hunan, China. X. G. was supported by the CPRIT Research Training Award RP140105 and RP170345.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, United States & Canadian Academy of Pathology.
PY - 2018/11/1
Y1 - 2018/11/1
N2 - Advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer is often incurable. Therefore, in-depth insights into the molecular mechanisms are needed for the development of novel therapeutic targets and the improvement of current therapeutic strategies. In this study, we investigated the role of GLI2 and GLI3 in the regulation of the malignant properties of cervical cancer. We showed that down-regulation of GLI2, but not GLI3, with an inducible GLI2 shRNA inhibited the growth and migration of cervical cancer cell lines, which could be rescued by ectopic expression of GLI2. GLI2 appeared to support cell growth by regulating the mitosis, but not the apoptosis, of the cervical cancer cells. Mechanistically, these functions of GLI2 were in part mediated by the activation of AKT pathway. Knockdown of GLI2, but not GLI3, also inhibited xenograft growth of cervical cancer cells in vivo. Finally, analysis of TCGA data showed that high levels of GLI2, but not GLI3, conferred a poor prognosis in cervical cancer patients. These observations for the first time suggest that GLI2, but not GLI3, exerts a tumor-promoting role in cervical cancer and may be targeted as a novel therapeutic strategy.
AB - Advanced, recurrent, or persistent cervical cancer is often incurable. Therefore, in-depth insights into the molecular mechanisms are needed for the development of novel therapeutic targets and the improvement of current therapeutic strategies. In this study, we investigated the role of GLI2 and GLI3 in the regulation of the malignant properties of cervical cancer. We showed that down-regulation of GLI2, but not GLI3, with an inducible GLI2 shRNA inhibited the growth and migration of cervical cancer cell lines, which could be rescued by ectopic expression of GLI2. GLI2 appeared to support cell growth by regulating the mitosis, but not the apoptosis, of the cervical cancer cells. Mechanistically, these functions of GLI2 were in part mediated by the activation of AKT pathway. Knockdown of GLI2, but not GLI3, also inhibited xenograft growth of cervical cancer cells in vivo. Finally, analysis of TCGA data showed that high levels of GLI2, but not GLI3, conferred a poor prognosis in cervical cancer patients. These observations for the first time suggest that GLI2, but not GLI3, exerts a tumor-promoting role in cervical cancer and may be targeted as a novel therapeutic strategy.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41374-018-0089-5
DO - 10.1038/s41374-018-0089-5
M3 - Article
C2 - 29967343
AN - SCOPUS:85049537855
SN - 0023-6837
VL - 98
SP - 1384
EP - 1396
JO - Laboratory Investigation
JF - Laboratory Investigation
IS - 11
ER -