Open AccessHeterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K is associated with poor prognosis and regulates proliferation and apoptosis in bladder cancer
Author(s) -
Chen Xu,
Gu Peng,
Xie Ruihui,
Han Jinli,
Liu Hao,
Wang Bo,
Xie Weibin,
Xie Weijie,
Zhong Guangzheng,
Chen Changhao,
Xie Shujie,
Jiang Ning,
Lin Tianxin,
Huang Jian
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of cellular and molecular medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.44
H-Index - 130
eISSN - 1582-4934
pISSN - 1582-1838
DOI - 10.1111/jcmm.12999
Subject(s) - cancer research , carcinogenesis , bladder cancer , gene knockdown , transcription factor , biology , cancer , apoptosis , gene , genetics
Heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein K (hn RNPK ) is an essential RNA ‐ and DNA ‐binding protein that regulates diverse biological events, especially DNA transcription. hn RNPK overexpression is related to tumorigenesis in several cancers. However, both the expression patterns and biological mechanisms of hn RNPK in bladder cancer are unclear. We investigated hn RNPK expression by immunohistochemistry in 188 patients with bladder cancer, and found that hn RNPK expression levels were significantly increased in bladder cancer tissues and that high‐hn RNPK expression was closely correlated with poor prognosis. Loss‐ and gain‐of‐function assays demonstrated that hn RNPK promoted proliferation, anti‐apoptosis, and chemoresistance in bladder cancer cells in vitro , and hn RNPK knockdown suppressed tumorigenicity in vivo . Mechanistically, hn RNPK regulated various functions in bladder cancer by directly mediating cyclin D1, G0/G1 switch 2 ( G0S2 ), XIAP ‐associated factor 1, and ERCC excision repair 4, endonuclease catalytic subunit ( ERCC 4 ) transcription. In conclusion, we discovered that hn RNPK plays an important role in bladder cancer, suggesting that it is a potential prognostic marker and a promising target for treating bladder cancer.