학술논문

Fragile X mental retardation protein in intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma: regulating the cancer cell behavior plasticity at the leading edge
Document Type
Report
Source
Oncogene. June 11, 2021, Vol. 40 Issue 23, p4033, 17 p.
Subject
Italy
Language
English
ISSN
0950-9232
Abstract
Author(s): Simone Carotti [sup.1] [sup.2] , Maria Zingariello [sup.1] , Maria Francesconi [sup.1] , Laura D'Andrea [sup.1] , M. Ujue Latasa [sup.3] , Leticia Colyn [sup.3] , Maite G. Fernandez-Barrena [...]
Intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA) is a rare malignancy of the intrahepatic biliary tract with a very poor prognosis. Although some clinicopathological parameters can be prognostic factors for iCCA, the molecular prognostic markers and potential mechanisms of iCCA have not been well investigated. Here, we report that the Fragile X mental retardation protein (FMRP), a RNA binding protein functionally absent in patients with the Fragile X syndrome (FXS) and also involved in several types of cancers, is overexpressed in human iCCA and its expression is significantly increased in iCCA metastatic tissues. The silencing of FMRP in metastatic iCCA cell lines affects cell migration and invasion, suggesting a role of FMRP in iCCA progression. Moreover, we show evidence that FMRP is localized at the invasive front of human iCCA neoplastic nests and in pseudopodia and invadopodia protrusions of migrating and invading iCCA cancer cells. Here FMRP binds several mRNAs encoding key proteins involved in the formation and/or function of these protrusions. In particular, we find that FMRP binds to and regulates the expression of Cortactin, a critical regulator of invadopodia formation. Altogether, our findings suggest that FMRP could promote cell invasiveness modulating membrane plasticity and invadopodia formation at the leading edges of invading iCCA cells.