FOXP3 facilitates the invasion and metastasis of non‑small cell lung cancer cells through regulating VEGF, EMT and the Notch1/Hes1 pathway

Abstract

Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) is a specific marker of regulatory T cells (Tregs) that is also expressed in tumour cells. Previous studies have revealed that FOXP3 can promote metastasis in several types of cancer, including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); however, the underlying mechanism of FOXP3 remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of FOXP3 on vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and the Notch1/Hes1 pathway in NSCLC. After FOXP3 small interfering RNA (siRNAs) were transfected into A549 cells, the expression of FOXP3 mRNA and protein was determined by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR and western blotting. Cell migration and invasion were analyzed by Transwell assays. The concentrations of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9 and VEGF in the cell supernatant were evaluated by ELISA. The expression of relevant proteins involved in EMT and Notch1/Hes1 pathway were assessed via western blotting. Additionally, the expression of FOXP3, CD31 and E-cadherin was detected by immunohistochemical (IHC) staining of 55 human NSCLC tissue samples. The results demonstrated that FOXP3 knockdown significantly inhibited the cell migratory and invasive abilities, decreased the concentrations of MMP-2, MMP-9 and VEGF, downregulated the protein expression of vimentin, N-cadherin, Notch1 and Hes family BHLH transcription factor 1 (Hes1), and upregulated the protein expression of E-cadherin. Furthermore, FOXP3 expression was positively associated with CD31 + vascular endothelial cells and negatively correlated with E-cadherin in NSCLC tissues. In addition, the Notch1/Hes1 pathway inhibitor DAPT significantly downregulated the expression of FOXP3 in a dose-dependent manner. Taken together, these findings demonstrated that FOXP3 may facilitate the invasive and migratory abilities of NSCLC cells via regulating the angiogenic factor VEGF, the EMT and the Notch1/Hes1 pathway.

Construction of a B cell-related gene pairs signature for predicting prognosis and immunotherapeutic response in non-small cell lung cancer

“…Interestingly, HES1, associated with Notch activation, was essential to inhibit the progression of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia rather than T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia ( 47 ). Besides, HES1 has been shown to be positively correlated with the expression of FOXP3 and plays an important role in regulating the invasive and migratory functions of FOXP3 in NSCLC cells ( 48 ). ITM2C belongs to the Type II Integral Membrane protein (ITM2) family and is thought to be negatively regulates the amyloid-beta peptide production ( 49 , 50 ).…”

Biological and molecular studies on specific immune cells treated with checkpoint inhibitors for the thera-personal approach of breast cancer patients (ex-vivo study)

“…Moreover, CTLA4 interacts with PKCη through CTLA4/PKCη/GIT/PAK/PIX signaling pathway in Tregs, which leads to depletion of the costimulatory molecule CD86 on intratumoral CD103+ DCs, inactivation of CD8+ T cells, and inhibition of effector cytokines production by these cells [38]. Furthermore, FOXP3 suppression can inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis via downregulating the angiogenic factor VEGF, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and the Notch1/Hes1 pathway [39]. Additionally, FOXP3 was reported to promote cell proliferation, invasion and EMT through activation of the Wnt signaling pathway, and consequently upregulation of β-catenin and transcription factor 4 (TCF4) [40].…”

FOXP family DNA methylation correlates with immune infiltration and prognostic value in NSCLC

“…Previous studies have shown that FOXP3 is overexpressed to facilitate the invasion and metastasis of NSCLC (Li et al, 2021). Our results showed there were different expression levels of the FOXP family according to different pathological types in NSCLC compared with normal tissue.…”