Splice-Variant Knock-Out of TGFβ Receptors Perturbates the Proteome of Ovarian Carcinoma Cells

Abstract

The aim of this study was to analyze the biological role of different transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) receptor splice variants in ovarian carcinoma (OC). Specific receptor variant knockouts (KO) were prepared using the CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing system in two OC cell lines, TβRI variant 1 (TβRIv1) KO in ES-2 cells and TβRII variant 1 (TβRIIv1) KO in OVCAR-8 cells. Control and KO cells were compared by proteomic analysis, functional tests, analysis of epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) drivers, and Western blot of signaling proteins. Proteomic analysis revealed significant changes in protein pathways in the KO cells. TβRIv1 KO resulted in a significant reduction in both cellular motility and invasion, while TβRIIv1 KO significantly reduced cellular motility and increased Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) production. Both receptor variant KOs reduced MET protein levels. Of the EMT drivers, a significant decrease in TWIST protein expression, and increase in SNAIL protein and MALAT1 mRNA levels were observed in the TβRIIv1 KO compared to control. A significant decrease in JNK1 and JNK2 activation was found in the TβRIv1 KO compared to control cells. These findings provide new insight regarding the biological role of the TGFβ receptor variants in the biology and potentially the progression of OC.

The Role of EMT-Related lncRNAs in Ovarian Cancer

“…Another widely studied lncRNA in cancer is MALAT1. According to a recent work, MALAT1 functions as a ceRNA interfering with miR-22 and consequently increasing the expression of Snail in OC [ 76 ]. EMT promotion in OC cells by MALAT1 has been also associated with the regulation of additional EMT hallmarks, such as ZEB2 [ 77 ] and RBFOX2 [ 78 ].…”