Journal of Bio-X Research (Sep 2018)

The mechanisms of colorectal cancer cell mesenchymal–epithelial transition induced by hepatocyte exosome-derived miR-203a-3p

  • Heyang Xu, MD,
  • Yongliang Huang, MD,
  • Qiusheng Lan, MD,
  • Yang Zhang, MD,
  • Yujie Zeng, PhD,
  • Tao Zhang, BA,
  • Chisheng Chen, MD,
  • Pengwei Su, BA,
  • Ziqiang Chu, BA,
  • Wei Lai, MD,
  • Zhonghua Chu, MD

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1097/JBR.0000000000000013
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 1, no. 2
pp. 62 – 72

Abstract

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Abstract. Phosphatase of regenerating liver 3 (PRL3) promotes colorectal cancer (CRC) metastasis by inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Mesenchymal-to-epithelial transition (MET), the opposite of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, has been proposed as a mechanism for the establishment of metastatic neoplasms. However, the molecular mechanism of MET remains unclear. Here, we show that miR-203a-3p derived from hepatocyte exosomes inhibits Src expression, reduces epidermal growth factor receptor activity and downstream signaling pathways, and increases E-cadherin expression, which is a typical mesenchymal cell marker of MET, in CRC cells. These results show the important role of epidermal growth factor receptor in CRC cell MET.