Mitofusin-2 over-expresses and leads to dysregulation of cell cycle and cell invasion in lung adenocarcinoma

Med Oncol. 2015 Apr;32(4):132. doi: 10.1007/s12032-015-0515-0. Epub 2015 Mar 22.

Abstract

Mitofusin-2 (MFN2) is a mitochondrial protein associated with mitochondrial fusion process. It was initially identified as a hyperplasia suppressor and implicated in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Recent studies showed that MFN2 played important roles in the development of multiple tumors. Here we examined MFN2 expression in 30 lung adenocarcinoma samples and revealed that the expression of MFN2 was significantly higher in lung adenocarcinoma tissues as compared to adjacent normal tissues. We then investigated the impact of MFN2 knockdown on A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells and showed that cell proliferation, cell cycle and invasion behavior were all deregulated by MFN2 knockdown. And deregulation of cell cycle pathway after MFN2 knockdown was confirmed by microarray analysis. Furthermore, microarray analysis also revealed that different oncogenes such as RAP1A, RALB and ITGA2 were oppositely regulated by MFN2, which provided molecular clues for the paradoxical functions of MFN2 in tumor development. Taken together, our study unraveled the tumor-promoting functions of MFN2 in lung adenocarcinoma and implicated that the role of MFN2 in cancer development might be more complicated than expected and should be explored in detail in the future.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma / genetics
  • Adenocarcinoma / metabolism
  • Adenocarcinoma / pathology*
  • Apoptosis
  • Blotting, Western
  • Cell Adhesion
  • Cell Cycle*
  • Cell Movement*
  • Cell Proliferation
  • Female
  • Flow Cytometry
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / antagonists & inhibitors
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / genetics
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases / metabolism*
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • Lung Neoplasms / genetics
  • Lung Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Lung Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / genetics
  • Mitochondrial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Neoplasm Staging
  • Prognosis
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics
  • RNA, Small Interfering / genetics
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Tumor Cells, Cultured

Substances

  • Mitochondrial Proteins
  • RNA, Messenger
  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • GTP Phosphohydrolases
  • MFN2 protein, human