Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.

Recently, we demonstrated that the transcription factors HNF6 and FOXA2 function as key regulators in human colorectal liver metastases. To better understand their proposed inhibitory crosstalk, the consequences of functional knockdown of FOXA2 on HNF6 and C/EBPα activity were investigated in the hu...

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Main Authors: Frank Lehner, Ulf Kulik, Juergen Klempnauer, Juergen Borlak
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2010-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2954183?pdf=render
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author Frank Lehner
Ulf Kulik
Juergen Klempnauer
Juergen Borlak
author_facet Frank Lehner
Ulf Kulik
Juergen Klempnauer
Juergen Borlak
author_sort Frank Lehner
collection DOAJ
description Recently, we demonstrated that the transcription factors HNF6 and FOXA2 function as key regulators in human colorectal liver metastases. To better understand their proposed inhibitory crosstalk, the consequences of functional knockdown of FOXA2 on HNF6 and C/EBPα activity were investigated in the human colon Caco-2 and HepG2 carcinoma cell lines. Specifically, siRNA-mediated gene silencing of FOXA2 repressed transcript expression by >80%. This resulted in a statistically significant 6-, 3-, 4-, and 8-fold increase in mRNA expression of HNF6 and of genes targeted by this transcription factor, e.g., HSP105B, CYP51, and C/EBPα, as determined by qRT-PCR. Thus, functional knockdown of FOXA2 recovered HNF6 activity. Furthermore, with nuclear extracts of Caco-2 cells no HNF6 DNA binding was observed, but expression of HNF1α, FOXA2, FOXA3, and HNF4α protein was abundant. We therefore transfected a plasmid encoding HNF6 into Caco-2 cells but also employed a retroviral vector to transfect HNF6 into HepG2 cells. This resulted in HNF6 protein expression with DNA binding activity being recovered as determined by EMSA band shift assays. Furthermore, by flow cytometry the consequences of HNF6 expression on cell cycle regulation in transfected cells was studied. Essentially, HNF6 inhibited cell cycle progression in the G2/M and G1 phase in Caco-2 and HepG2 cell lines, respectively. Here, proliferation was reduced by 80% and 50% in Caco-2 and HepG2 cells, respectively, as determined by the BrdU labeling assay. Therefore functional knockdown of FOXA2 recovered HNF6 activity and inhibited growth of tumor-cells and may possibly represent a novel therapeutic target in primary and secondary liver malignancies.
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spelling doaj.art-cf86ace7aed44543a8238986a5ad5edb2022-12-22T01:47:57ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032010-01-01510e1334410.1371/journal.pone.0013344Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.Frank LehnerUlf KulikJuergen KlempnauerJuergen BorlakRecently, we demonstrated that the transcription factors HNF6 and FOXA2 function as key regulators in human colorectal liver metastases. To better understand their proposed inhibitory crosstalk, the consequences of functional knockdown of FOXA2 on HNF6 and C/EBPα activity were investigated in the human colon Caco-2 and HepG2 carcinoma cell lines. Specifically, siRNA-mediated gene silencing of FOXA2 repressed transcript expression by >80%. This resulted in a statistically significant 6-, 3-, 4-, and 8-fold increase in mRNA expression of HNF6 and of genes targeted by this transcription factor, e.g., HSP105B, CYP51, and C/EBPα, as determined by qRT-PCR. Thus, functional knockdown of FOXA2 recovered HNF6 activity. Furthermore, with nuclear extracts of Caco-2 cells no HNF6 DNA binding was observed, but expression of HNF1α, FOXA2, FOXA3, and HNF4α protein was abundant. We therefore transfected a plasmid encoding HNF6 into Caco-2 cells but also employed a retroviral vector to transfect HNF6 into HepG2 cells. This resulted in HNF6 protein expression with DNA binding activity being recovered as determined by EMSA band shift assays. Furthermore, by flow cytometry the consequences of HNF6 expression on cell cycle regulation in transfected cells was studied. Essentially, HNF6 inhibited cell cycle progression in the G2/M and G1 phase in Caco-2 and HepG2 cell lines, respectively. Here, proliferation was reduced by 80% and 50% in Caco-2 and HepG2 cells, respectively, as determined by the BrdU labeling assay. Therefore functional knockdown of FOXA2 recovered HNF6 activity and inhibited growth of tumor-cells and may possibly represent a novel therapeutic target in primary and secondary liver malignancies.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2954183?pdf=render
spellingShingle Frank Lehner
Ulf Kulik
Juergen Klempnauer
Juergen Borlak
Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
PLoS ONE
title Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
title_full Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
title_fullStr Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
title_full_unstemmed Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
title_short Inhibition of the liver enriched protein FOXA2 recovers HNF6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells.
title_sort inhibition of the liver enriched protein foxa2 recovers hnf6 activity in human colon carcinoma and liver hepatoma cells
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2954183?pdf=render
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