Publication Title

Oncotarget

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-20-2017

Keywords

3' Untranslated Regions; Cell Movement; Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; Glioblastoma; HCT116 Cells; HEK293 Cells; Humans; RNA-Binding Proteins; Spheroids, Cellular; Transcription Factor RelA; Transcriptional Activation; Tumor Cells, Cultured

Abstract

The diffusely infiltrative nature of glioblastoma (GBM) makes them highly recurrent. IGF2 mRNA-binding protein 3 (IMP3), a GBM upregulated RNA binding protein, promotes glioma cell migration. An integrative bioinformatics analysis identified p65 (RELA), a subunit of NF-κB heterodimer as a target and an important mediator of IMP3 promoted glioma cell migration. IMP3 increased p65 protein levels without any change in p65 transcript levels, but promoted its polysome association. RIP-PCR demonstrated the binding of IMP3 to p65 transcript. UV crosslinking experiments with in vitro transcribed RNA confirmed the specific and direct binding of IMP3 to sites on p65 3'UTR. Further, IMP3 induced luciferase activity from p65 3'UTR reporter carrying wild type sites but not mutated sites. Exogenous overexpression of p65 from a 3'UTR-less construct rescued the reduced migration of glioma cells in IMP3 silenced condition. In addition, IMP3 silencing inhibited glioma stem-like cell maintenance and migration. The exogenous overexpression of 3'UTR-less p65 significantly alleviated the inhibition of neurosphere formation observed in IMP3 silenced glioma stem-like cells. Further, we show that IMP3 is transcriptionally activated by NF-κB pathway indicating the presence of a positive feedback loop between IMP3 and p65. This study establishes p65 as a novel target of IMP3 in increasing glioma cell migration and underscores the significance of IMP3-p65 feedback loop for therapeutic targeting in GBM.

Area of Special Interest

Cancer

Area of Special Interest

Neurosciences (Brain & Spine)

Specialty/Research Institute

Oncology

Specialty/Research Institute

Neurosciences

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