Repression of caspase-3 and RNA-binding protein HuR cleavage by cyclooxygenase-2 promotes drug resistance in oral squamous cell carcinoma

H. Janakiraman, R. P. House, S. Talwar, S. M. Courtney, E. S. Hazard, G. Hardiman, S. Mehrotra, P. H. Howe, V. Gangaraju, V. Palanisamy*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

32 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

A well-studied RNA-binding protein Hu Antigen-R (HuR), controls post-transcriptional gene regulation and undergoes stress-activated caspase-3 dependent cleavage in cancer cells. The cleavage products of HuR are known to promote cell death; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms facilitating caspase-3 activation and HuR cleavage remains unknown. Here, we show that HuR cleavage associated with active caspase-3 in oral cancer cells treated with ionizing radiation and chemotherapeutic drug, paclitaxel. We determined that oral cancer cells overexpressing cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) limited the cleavage of caspase-3 and HuR, which reduced the rate of cell death in paclitaxel resistant oral cancer cells. Specific inhibition of COX-2 by celecoxib, promoted apoptosis through activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of HuR in paclitaxel-resistant oral cancer cells, both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, oral cancer cells overexpressing cellular HuR increased the half-life of COX-2 mRNA, promoted COX-2 protein expression and exhibited enhanced tumor growth in vivo in comparison with cells expressing a cleavable form of HuR. Finally, our ribonucleoprotein immunoprecipitation and sequencing (RIP-seq) analyses of HuR in oral cancer cells treated with ionizing radiation (IR), determined that HuR cleavage product-1 (HuR-CP1) bound and promoted the expression of mRNAs encoding proteins involved in apoptosis. Our results indicated that, cellular non-cleavable HuR controls COX-2 mRNA expression and enzymatic activity. In addition, overexpressed COX-2 protein repressed the cleavage of caspase-3 and HuR to promote drug resistance and tumor growth. Altogether, our observations support the use of the COX-2 inhibitor celecoxib, in combination with paclitaxel, for the management of paclitaxel resistant oral cancer cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3137-3148
Number of pages12
JournalOncogene
Volume36
Issue number22
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01 Jun 2017
Externally publishedYes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics
  • Cancer Research

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