Abstract 120: Runx3 inhibited epithelial to mesenchymal transition promotes motility and invasiveness of colon cancer cells through reduction of ROS generation

Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA Approximately 90% of all cancer deaths arise from the metastatic spread of primary tumours. Most colon cancer metastasis occurs. Runx3(runt-related transcription factor3) is known as tumor suppressor gene in gastrointestinal epithelium. Recent reports have been shown that loss of Runx3 induce proliferative effect in gastric cancer cells. However, their roles and underlying mechanism in colon cancer cell lines are not yet known. In this study, we investigated the function of Runx3 in human colon cancer cells. The proliferation, migration, and invasion of colon cancer cells in response to using the Runx3 expression vector for various times were investigated using MTT, wound healing, and Matrigel invasion assay, respectively. The morphologic changes of colon cancer cells through the EMT process were monitored by immunofluorescence staining and Western blot assay for EMT markers Twist and Vimentin. We found that Runx3 overexpressing cell inhibited cell motility and invasiveness in colon cancer, and this process was enhanced by Runx3 siRNA. We observed that the mRNA expressions of Runx3 was enhanced by Runx3 overexpressing cell, whereas no increase of these factors was observed when the Runx3 siRNA was transfection. Overexpression of Runx3 decreases protein expression of EMT (Epithelial-Mesenchymal transition) markers. In addition, Runx3 knockdown upregulates MMP2 activity. The ROS production was decreased in Runx3-overexpressing cells. These results indicate that Runx3 signaling pathway can contribute to ROS generation enhancing the metastatic potential of tumor cells. Our findings suggest that Runx3 signaling processes through ROS and MMP2 the inhibition of these pathway blocked the metastatic potential of colon cancer cell lines. Citation Format: Bo Ram Kim, Myoung Hee Kang, Jung Lim Kim, Yoo Jin Jang, Sun Il Lee, Jun Suk Kim, Sang Cheul Oh. Runx3 inhibited epithelial to mesenchymal transition promotes motility and invasiveness of colon cancer cells through reduction of ROS generation. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 120. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-120