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Elucidation of the mechanism underlying CD44v6‐induced transformation of IEC‐6 normal intestinal epithelial cells
Author(s) -
Chung ShinYi,
Huang WenChen,
Chen ZongSiang,
Chao TaChung,
Su Yeu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of cellular physiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.529
H-Index - 174
eISSN - 1097-4652
pISSN - 0021-9541
DOI - 10.1002/jcp.28959
Subject(s) - protein kinase b , microbiology and biotechnology , mapk/erk pathway , pi3k/akt/mtor pathway , downregulation and upregulation , cancer research , biology , chemistry , signal transduction , biochemistry , gene
The transformation abilities of CD44s and CD44v6 in normal intestinal epithelial cells have not yet been reported. Herein, we established both CD44s and CD44v6 overexpressing stable clones from rat IEC‐6 cells and demonstrated that the CD44v6 clones had higher saturation density and anchorage independence. Additionally, CD44v6 clones were more resistant to oxaliplatin and irinotecan which might be attributed to a significantly increased B‐cell lymphoma 2 level and a reduced DNA damage response in these cells. Moreover, c‐Met and vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 signalings were involved in modulating the saturation density in CD44v6 clones. Interestingly, higher activation of both AKT and extracellular‐signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) were detected in CD44v6 clones which might account in part for the cell density‐independent nuclear localization of Yes‐associated protein (YAP). To no surprise, increases of both saturation density and anchorage independence in CD44v6 clones were markedly diminished by PI3K, AKT, MEK, and ERK inhibitors as well as YAP knockdown. By contrast, overexpression of a constitutively active YAP robustly increased the aforementioned phenotypes in IEC‐6 cells. Collectively, our results suggest that upregulation of CD44v6, but not CD44s, induces the transformation of normal intestinal epithelial cells possibly via activating the c‐Met/AKT/YAP pathway which might also explain the important role of CD44v6 in the initiation of various carcinomas.