The role of epithelial cell adhesion molecule N-glycosylation on apoptosis in breast cancer cells
Dandan Zhang,
Xue Liu,
Jiujiao Gao,
Yan Sun,
Tingjiao Liu,
Qiu Yan,
Xuesong Yang
Affiliations
Dandan Zhang
Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Xue Liu
Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Jiujiao Gao
Center for Molecular Medicine, School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Yan Sun
Department of Nephrology, Hematology and Rheumatology, Yantai Affiliated Hospital, Binzhou Medical College, Yantai, People’s Republic of China
Tingjiao Liu
Section of Oral Pathology, College of Stomatology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Qiu Yan
Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Xuesong Yang
Liaoning Provincial Core Lab of Glycobiology and Glycoengineering, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Dalian Medical University, Dalian, People’s Republic of China
Glycosylation of cell surface proteins plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. It has been demonstrated that knockdown of epithelial cell adhesion molecule promoted apoptosis, inhibited cell proliferation, and caused cell-cycle arrest. In this study, we investigated whether and how N-glycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule influenced the apoptosis in breast cancer cells. We applied the N-glycosylation mutation epithelial cell adhesion molecule plasmid to express deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule and then to study its function. Our results showed that deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule promoted apoptosis and inhibited cell proliferation. Deglycosylation of epithelial cell adhesion molecule enhanced the cytotoxic effect of 5-fluorouracil, promoting apoptosis by downregulating the expression of the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 and upregulating the expression of the pro-apoptotic proteins Bax and Caspase 3 via the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase 1/2 and c-Jun N-terminal kinase mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathways in MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 cells. These findings are important for a better understanding of epithelial cell adhesion molecule apoptosis regulation and suggest epithelial cell adhesion molecule as a potential target for the treatment of breast cancer.
