Thyroid transcription factor-1 inhibits transforming growth factor-β–mediated epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in lung adenocarcinoma cells

RA Saito, T Watabe, K Horiguchi, T Kohyama, M Saitoh… - Cancer research, 2009 - AACR
RA Saito, T Watabe, K Horiguchi, T Kohyama, M Saitoh, T Nagase, K Miyazono
Cancer research, 2009AACR
Abstract Thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is expressed in lung cancer, but its functional
roles remain unexplored. TTF-1 gene amplification has been discovered in a part of lung
adenocarcinomas, and its action as a lineage-specific oncogene is highlighted. Epithelial-to-
mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial event for cancer cells to acquire invasive and
metastatic phenotypes and can be elicited by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β).
Mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) is the inverse process of EMT; however, signals …
Abstract
Thyroid transcription factor-1 (TTF-1) is expressed in lung cancer, but its functional roles remain unexplored. TTF-1 gene amplification has been discovered in a part of lung adenocarcinomas, and its action as a lineage-specific oncogene is highlighted. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial event for cancer cells to acquire invasive and metastatic phenotypes and can be elicited by transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β). Mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET) is the inverse process of EMT; however, signals that induce MET are largely unknown. Here, we report a novel functional aspect of TTF-1 that inhibits TGF-β–mediated EMT and restores epithelial phenotype in lung adenocarcinoma cells. This effect was accompanied by down-regulation of TGF-β target genes, including presumed regulators of EMT, such as Snail and Slug. Moreover, silencing of TTF-1 enhanced TGF-β–mediated EMT. Thus, TTF-1 can exert a tumor-suppressive effect with abrogation of cellular response to TGF-β and attenuated invasive capacity. We further revealed that TTF-1 down-regulates TGF-β2 production in A549 cells and that TGF-β conversely decreases endogenous TTF-1 expression, suggesting that enhancement of autocrine TGF-β signaling accelerates the decrease of TTF-1 expression and vice versa. These findings delineate potential links between TTF-1 and TGF-β signaling in lung cancer progression through regulation of EMT and MET and suggest that modulation of TTF-1 expression can be a novel therapeutic strategy for treatment of lung adenocarcinoma. [Cancer Res 2009;69(7):2783–91]
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