Human galectin-1 is a member of galectin family, proteins with conserved carbohydrate-recognition domains that bind galactoside. Galectin-1 is highly expressed in various tumors and participates in various oncogenic processes. However, detailed description of the function of galectin-1 in urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma has not been provided nowadays. Our previous cohort investigation demonstrated that galectin-1 is associated with tumor invasiveness and a possible independent prognostic marker of urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma. The present study was to clarify the relevance of galectin-1 expression level to tumor progression and invasion. In order to decipher a mechanism for the contribution of galectin-1 to the malignant behaviour of urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma, two bladder cancer cell lines (T24 and J82) was established with knockdown galectin-1 expression by short-hairpin siRNA. Bladder cancer cells with gelectin-1 gene silencing exhibited reduced cell proliferation, lower invasive capability and lower clonogenicity. Extensive signalling pathway studies indicated that galectin-1 participated in bladder cancer cell invasion through mediating the activity of matrix metalloproteinase 9 via Ras─Rac1─MAP/ERK kinase kinase 4─c-Jun N-terminal protein kinase─AP1 signaling pathway. Our functional analyses of gelectin-1 in urinary bladder urothelial carcinoma provided novel insight into the critical role of gelectin-1 in tumour progression and invasion. These results revealed that silencing galectin-1-mediated MAP kinase signaling pathway presented a novel strategy for bladder cancer therapy. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
Cancer science. 2016 Jul 21 [Epub ahead of print]
Kun-Hung Shen, Chien-Feng Li, Lan-Hsiang Chien, Cheng-Hao Huang, Chia-Cheng Su, Alex C Liao, Ting-Feng Wu
Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan., Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan., Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan., Nan Pao Resins Chemical Company LTD, Tainan, Taiwan., Department of Urology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan., Department of Urology, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan., Department of Biotechnology, Southern Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Tainan, Taiwan.