Apolipoprotein M inhibits proliferation and migration of larynx carcinoma cells

Abstract

Prior studies have shown that apolipoprotein M (APOM) is involved in the development of some cancers. Here we investigated the effects of APOM on larynx cancer (LC). 20 patients with vocal cord polyps and 18 patients with LC were included in this study. The protein and mRNA levels of the samples were analysed using the Wes-ProteinSimple system (or traditional Western blot) and PCR technology, respectively. APOM protein level in cancer tissues was lower than that in paracarcinomatous (P = 0.0003) and polyp tissues (P < 0.0001). APOM overexpression significantly inhibited TU686 cell proliferation (P < 0.0001) and migration (P < 0.01), and increased expression of vitamin D receptor (VDR, P < 0.0001) as well as nuclear factor erythroid 2-like 3 (NFE2L3, P = 0.0215). In addition, matrix metalloproteinase-10 (MMP-10) mRNA level was significantly reduced in the APOM overexpression group (P = 0.0077). However, Western blot analysis showed that APOM overexpression did not change VDR, NFE2L3 and MMP-10 protein levels (P > 0.05). In summary, APOM inhibits the proliferation and migration of LC cells, but may not be related to VDR, NFE2L3 and MMP-10, which needs further study.

Figure 1

APOM protein levels in vocal cord polyps, LC tissues and matched paracarcinomatous tissues. The APOM protein levels (a–c) in different types of laryngeal tissues were detected by the Wes-ProteinSimple system (median with interquartile range) and full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure S1. 3 consecutive sections of laryngeal carcinoma tissue (d–f), 3 consecutive sections of paracarcinomatous tissue (g–i), the anti-APOM antibody-positive tissues (d and g), the anti-APOM antibody NCs (e and h) and the H&E staining results (f and i). Scale bar = 50 μm.

Figure 2

Effects of APOM overexpression on the proliferation and migration of TU686 cells. Fluorescence micrographs of TU686 cells are shown in (a–c): lentivirus negative group (a), lentivirus carrying empty vector group (b) and lentivirus carrying APOM gene group (c). Panel l shows the efficiency of the APOM overexpression (mean ± standard deviation). The effect of APOM on the proliferation of TU686 cells is shown in panel m (mean ± standard deviation). The effect of APOM on the migration of TU686 cells is shown in panels d to k and n (mean ± standard deviation).

Figure 3

Effects of APOM on the expression of VDR, NFE2L3 and MMP-10. Effect of APOM on the mRNA levels (a) and protein levels (b and c) of VDR, NFE2L3 and MMP-10. Full-length blots are presented in Supplementary Figure S3.