Expression and Biological Functions of EPC1 in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

Abstract

Background: Comb homolog enhancer 1 (EPC1) gene is one of the important members of epigenetic inhibitor PCG family. It shows carcinogenic potential in a variety of malignant tumors, but the expression and role of EPC1 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma are unclear. The aim of this study was to explore the expression and function of enhancer of polycomb homolog 1 (EPC1) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods: The differential expression of EPC1 in the cancer tissues and cell lines of NPC was examined by quantitative real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). EPC1 expression, cell proliferation, and apoptosis were detected in NPC cell lines after EPC1 silencing, and the levels of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related proteins E-cadherin and vimentin were detected in NPC cells after EPC1 silencing. The study was performed at Fujian Provincial Hospital, Fujian, China, from 2018 to 2019. Results: We found that EPC1 was significantly upregulated in the cancer tissues and cell lines of NPC (P<0.001). Furthermore, knockdown of EPC1 inhibited the growth and metastasis of NPC cells. E-cadherin and vimentin were detected in NPC cells after EPC1 was knocked out. It was confirmed that inhibition of EPC1 resulted in increased E-cadherin expression (P<0.001) and decreased vimentin expression (P<0.001), suggesting that inhibition of EPC1 could inhibit the EMT in NPC cells. Conclusion: EPC1 expression was upregulated in NPC tissues and cell lines. Knockout of EPC1 effectively inhibited the growth of NPC cells, induced apoptosis, and inhibited invasion and metastasis. Inhibition of EPC1 could inhibit the EMT in NPC cells. All of the above findings support the viewpoint that EPC1 plays a pro-cancer role in NPC.

Multiomics Integrative Analysis Identifying EPC1 as a Prognostic Biomarker in Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma

“…Therefore, we tried to identify the function of EPC1 as a prognostic biomarker in HNSCC by multiomics integrative analysis. We found that EPC1 might indicate a better overall survival for patients with HNSCC, which was inconsistent with the results of NPC from our study [34]. We considered that one of the reasons might be that the expression data of NPC was not available in TCGA, due to the rarity of NPC in America.…”

“…EPC1 is a multicomb homolog 1 (Drosophila) enhancer involved in the regulation of cell growth and transcription [31]. EPC1 anomalies may be involved in ossifying fibromyxoid tumors [15], endometrial stromal sarcoma [32], pancreatic cancer [33], and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) [34]. However, the effect of this gene on the survival prognosis of HNSCC patients has not been studied.…”

EPC1/2 regulate hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell proliferation by modulating H3 acetylation and DLST

“…Third, knockdown of either EPC1 or EPC2 or both restrains cell proliferation in K562 cells. These observations are consistent with the reports that EPC1 or EPC2 are involved in cell cycle progression 26 , 52 and cell proliferation 53 in yeast and mammalian cells, and unveil the essential roles of EPC1 and EPC2 in HSPC proliferation. Knockdown of EPC1 or EPC2 induced cell apoptosis in K562 cells rather than in embryonic HSPCs, not only agreeing with the reports that knockdown of EPC1 and/or EPC2 induced apoptosis in AML cells, 20 but also suggesting that roles of EPC1 and EPC2 in apoptosis are different between in vivo and in vitro cells.…”