Mucin 1 promotes salivary gland cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by regulating the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway

Hao Lu; Wan-Lin Xu; Yi-Fan Wu; Wen-Jun Yang; Sheng-Wen Liu

doi:10.1016/j.jds.2023.01.035

Mucin 1 promotes salivary gland cancer cell proliferation and metastasis by regulating the epidermal growth factor receptor signaling pathway

J Dent Sci. 2023 Oct;18(4):1651-1662. doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2023.01.035. Epub 2023 Feb 10.

Authors

Hao Lu¹, Wan-Lin Xu^{1

2}, Yi-Fan Wu², Wen-Jun Yang¹, Sheng-Wen Liu¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Oral and Maxillofacial-Head and Neck Oncology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Disease, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology & Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology, Shanghai, China.
² Department of Oral Pathology, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, China.

Abstract

Background/purpose: Salivary gland cancer (SGC) is the common malignant tumor of the head and neck region with poor prognosis. Mucin 1 (MUC1) has been reported to be associated with the development of cancer. However, whether MUC1 contributed to the progression of SGC remains to be explored.

Materials and methods: Immunohistochemical analysis was used to explore the expression levels of MUC1 in SGC tissues. Cell proliferation, colony formation, wound healing, transwell, and xenograft assays were performed to examine the effects of MUC1 on SGC in vitro and in vivo.

Results: We found that the expression level of MUC1 was significantly upregulated in SGC tissues, and the expression level of MUC1 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis and TNM stage of SGC. Further exploration demonstrated that MUC1 knockdown drastically inhibited, while its overexpression promoted, cell growth, colony formation, migration, and invasion abilities of SGC cells in vitro. MUC1 knockdown significantly inhibited tumor growth in vivo, and vice versa. More importantly, we found that MUC1 promotes malignant phenotypes of SGC cells by regulating the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) signaling pathway.

Conclusion: Our results revealed that MUC1 promotes the development of SGC by mediating the EGFR signaling pathway, which highlights the potential therapeutic target of MUC1/ EGFR in SGC.

Keywords: EGFR; MUC1; Metastasis; Proliferation; Salivary gland cancer.