Involvement of c-Fos in cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in osteosarcoma cells accompanied by altered expression of Wnt2 and Fzd9

PLoS One. 2017 Jun 30;12(6):e0180558. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180558. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Osteosarcoma (OS) is an aggressive bone tumor, and proto-oncogene c-Fos is involved in this lethal disease. However, the role and molecular mechanism of c-Fos in the development and progression of OS remain enigmatic. As one of the Wnt family members, Wnt2 is closely associated with the development of several malignant tumors. In the present study, the expression of c-Fos, Wnt2, and its receptor Fzd9 in human OS tissues, MG63 OS cell line, and human osteoblast hFOB 1.19 cell line was detected by Western blot analysis, immunohistochemical staining, or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. The role of c-Fos in the OS was clarified by treating MG63 cells with small interfering RNA to knockdown c-Fos. Then, cell migration and invasion were assayed by transwell assays and wound healing assay; cell proliferation was assayed by MTS method and 5-ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine DNA proliferation in vitro detection; cell apoptosis was assayed by flow cytometric method. Co-immunoprecipitation kit was used to confirm the relationship between c-Fos and Wnt2/Fzd9. We found that the expression of c-Fos, Wnt2, and Fzd9 protein was distinctly higher in human OS tissues than that in the adjacent non-cancerous tissues, and their expression in the MG63 OS cell line was markedly increased compared with that in the human osteoblast hFOB 1.19 cell line. Knockdown of c-Fos inhibited the proliferation, migration, and invasion of MG63 cells, and promoted the apoptosis of MG63 cells. Moreover, knockdown of c-Fos inhibited the expression of Wnt2 and Fzd9 mRNA and protein. Our data enforced the evidence that knockdown of c-Fos inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion, and promoted the apoptosis of OS cells accompanied by altered expression of Wnt2 and Fzd9. These findings offer new clues for OS development and progression, and c-Fos may be a potential therapeutic target for OS.

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cell Proliferation / physiology*
  • Frizzled Receptors / metabolism*
  • Gene Knockdown Techniques
  • Humans
  • Neoplasm Invasiveness / physiopathology*
  • Neoplasm Metastasis / physiopathology*
  • Osteosarcoma / metabolism
  • Osteosarcoma / pathology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / genetics
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / physiology*
  • Wnt2 Protein / metabolism*

Substances

  • FZD9 protein, human
  • Frizzled Receptors
  • MAS1 protein, human
  • Proto-Oncogene Mas
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
  • WNT2 protein, human
  • Wnt2 Protein

Grants and funding

This study was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (81401066), the Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation of China (ZR2016HM60; ZR2012HQ021; ZR2016HL20), Shandong Medical and Health Science and Technology Development Program(2016WS0691; 2016WS0666), Shandong Provincial Education Department (J11LF16), the Science and Technology Development Program of Weifang in China (201301074), Technology Innovation Fund of Weifang Medical University (KX2016009; KX2016015). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.