PTEN downregulates WD repeat ‑containing protein 66 in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma.

PTEN downregulates WD repeat‑containing protein 66 in salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma. Oncol Rep. 2018 Dec 13;: Authors: Cao Y, Liu H, Xia SL, Zhang X, Bai H, Yang Q, Li J, Gao L, Jin F, Wei MJ, Lu SL, Xiao J Abstract Salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC) is one of the most common types of salivary gland cancer that causes substantial morbidity and mortality. Despite the substantial health burden of SACC, the molecular mechanisms underlying its development and progression remain poorly understood. We previously reported the loss of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) expression to be common among SACC tumors, and the PTEN deficiency to be correlated with enrichment of epithelial‑mesenchymal transition (EMT) genes based on expression array analysis. The aim of the present study was to investigate further the functional function of WD repeat‑containing protein 66 (WDR66), one of the enriched EMT genes, in the context of PTEN deficiency and SACC pathogenesis. WDR66 was identified to be required to maintain the EMT phenotype and the expression of cancer stem cell genes in the context of PTEN deficiency. Furthermore, knockdown of WDR66 decreased cellular proliferation, migration and invasion. Finally, WDR66 expression was identified to be inversely associated with PTEN expression and negatively correlated with the overall survival of patients with SACC. Collectively, the results of the present study revealed a novel function...
Source: Oncology Reports - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Oncol Rep Source Type: research