Platais, C., Radhakrishnan, R., Ebensberger, S.N. et al. (3 more authors) (2018) Targeting HOX-PBX interactions causes death in oral potentially malignant and squamous carcinoma cells but not normal oral keratinocytes. BMC Cancer, 18. 723. ISSN 1471-2407
Abstract
Background: High HOX gene expression has been described in many cancers, including oral squamous cell carcinoma and the functional roles of these genes are gradually being understood. The pattern of overexpression suggests that inhibition may be useful therapeutically. Inhibition of HOX protein binding to PBX cofactors by the use of synthetic peptides, such as HXR9, results in apoptosis in multiple cancers. Methods: Activity of the HOX-PBX inhibiting peptide HXR9 was tested in immortalised normal oral (NOK), potentially-malignant (PMOL) and squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cells, compared to the inactive peptide CXR9. Cytotoxicity was assessed by LDH assay. Expression of PBX1/2 and c-Fos was assessed by qPCR and western blotting. Apoptosis was assessed by Annexin-V assay. Results: PMOL and OSCC cells expressed PBX1/2. HOX-PBX inhibition by HXR9 caused death of PMOL and OSCC cells, but not NOKs. HXR9 treatment resulted in apoptosis and increased expression of c-Fos in some cells, whereas CXR9 did not. A correlation was observed between HOX expression and resistance to HXR9. Conclusion: Inhibition of HOX-PBX interactions causes selective apoptosis of OSCC/PMOL, indicating selective toxicity that may be useful clinically.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Authors/Creators: |
|
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. |
Keywords: | HOX genes; Oral Cancer; OSCC; PBX; HXR9; Apoptosis |
Dates: |
|
Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > School of Clinical Dentistry (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 13 Aug 2018 12:21 |
Last Modified: | 13 Aug 2018 12:21 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12885-018-4622-0 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | BioMed Central |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1186/s12885-018-4622-0 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:134516 |