Delta/Notch-like Epidermal Growth Factor-Related Receptor (DNER), a Potential Prognostic Marker of Gastric Cancer Regulates Cell Survival and Cell Cycle Progression

Author:

To Han Thi Ngoc12ORCID,Park Ji-Hong12ORCID,Kim Jeong Won3,Kang Dongchul12ORCID

Affiliation:

1. Ilsong Institute of Life Science, Hallym University, Beodeunaru-ro 55, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul 07247, Republic of Korea

2. Department of Biomedical Gerontology, Hallym University Graduate School, Chuncheon 24252, Republic of Korea

3. Department of Pathology, Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital, College of Medicine, Hallym University, Seoul 07441, Republic of Korea

Abstract

Upregulation of the expression of Delta/notch-like epidermal growth factor-related receptor (DNER) and its oncogenic role have been reported in several cancers, including gastric, breast, and prostate cancers. This study aimed to investigate the oncogenic role of DNER and the mechanisms behind its oncogenic role in gastric cancer. Analysis of the RNASeq data of gastric cancer tissues obtained from the TCGA database revealed that the expression of DNER was associated with the pathology of advanced gastric cancer and the prognosis of patients. DNER expression was increased upon stem cell-enriching cancer spheroid culture. Knockdown of DNER expression inhibited cell proliferation and invasion, induced apoptosis, enhanced chemosensitivity, and decreased spheroid formation of SNU-638 gastric cancer cells. DNER silencing elevated the expression of p53, p21cip/waf, and p27, and increased G1 phase cells at the expense of S phase cells. Knockdown of p21cip/waf expression in the DNER-silenced cells partially restored cell viability and S phase progression. DNER silencing also induced the apoptosis of SNU-638 cells. While both cleaved caspases-8 and 9 were detected in adherent cells, only cleaved caspase-8 was found to have increased in spheroid-cultured cells, suggesting a distinct activation pattern of caspase activation depending on the growth condition. Knockdown of p53 expression rescued the DNER-silenced cells from apoptosis and partially restored cell viability. In contrast, overexpression of the Notch intracellular domain (NICD) decreased the expression of p53, p21cip/waf, and cleaved caspase-3 in DNER-silenced cells. Moreover, NICD expression fully reverted the cell viability reduction, arrest in the G1 phase, and elevated apoptosis caused by DNER silencing, thereby suggesting activation of Notch signaling by DNER. Expression of a membrane-unbound mutant of mDNER also decreased cell viability and induced apoptosis. On the other hand, TGF-β signals were found to be involved in DNER expression in both adherent and spheroid-cultured cells. DNER could therefore be a link connecting TGF-β signaling to Notch signaling. Taken together, DNER regulates cell proliferation, survival, and invasive capacity of the gastric cancer cells through the activation of Notch signaling, which may facilitate tumor progression into an advanced stage. This study provides evidences suggesting that DNER could be a potential prognostic marker, a therapeutic target, and a drug candidate in the form of a cell-free mutant.

Funder

National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants funded by the Korean government

Publisher

MDPI AG

Subject

Inorganic Chemistry,Organic Chemistry,Physical and Theoretical Chemistry,Computer Science Applications,Spectroscopy,Molecular Biology,General Medicine,Catalysis

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