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Publications (2)8.24 Total impact

  • Article: Chemotherapeutic agents enhance cell migration and epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition through transient up-regulation of tNOX (ENOX2) protein.
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    ABSTRACT: Tumor-associated NADH oxidase (tNOX; ENOX2) is a growth-related protein expressed in transformed cells. High concentrations of numerous chemotherapeutic agents have shown to inhibit tNOX activity and protein levels leading to a reduction in cell growth while little is known for the effects of low concentrations of chemotherapeutic agents on tNOX expression. Effects of chemotherapeutic agents on cell function were evaluated with traditional in vitro assays and the xCELLigence System. Western blot analyses were used to study protein expression profiles of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. We showed that doxorubicin treatment transiently up-regulates tNOX expression in human lung carcinoma A549 cells in association with enhanced cell migration. Similar results were observed in tamoxifen-exposed A549 cells. Furthermore, protein marker analyses revealed that the enhanced migration induced by tamoxifen was correlated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, as evidenced by down-regulation of epithelial markers and up-regulation of mesenchymal markers. Importantly, tNOX overexpression enhanced cell migration, confirming the essential role of tNOX in cell migration. Based on these findings, we conclude that doxorubicin and tamoxifen induce a transient up-regulation of tNOX expression, leading to enhanced cell migration and EMT. These findings establish an essential role for tNOX in cell migration and survival and may provide a rational framework for the further development of tNOX inhibitors as a novel class of antitumor agents.
    Biochimica et Biophysica Acta 07/2012; 1820(11):1744-52. · 4.66 Impact Factor
  • Article: Phosphorylation of serine-504 of tNOX (ENOX2) modulates cell proliferation and migration in cancer cells.
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    ABSTRACT: Tumor-associated NADH oxidase (tNOX; ENOX2) is a growth-related protein expressed in transformed cells. Consistent with this function, tNOX knockdown by RNA interference leads to a significant reduction in cell proliferation and migration in HeLa cells, whereas tNOX overexpression confers an aggressive phenotype. Here, for the first time, we report that tNOX is phosphorylated by protein kinase Cδ (PKCδ) both in vitro and in vivo. Replacement of serine-504 with alanine significantly reduces phosphorylation by PKCδ. Co-immunoprecipitation experiments reveal an interaction between tNOX and PKCδ. Moreover, whereas overexpression of wild-type tNOX in NIH3T3 cells increases cell proliferation and migration, overexpression of the S504A tNOX mutant leads to diminished cell proliferation and migration, reflecting reduced stability of the unphosphorylatable tNOX mutant protein. Collectively, these results suggest that phosphorylation of serine-504 by PKCδ modulates the biological function of tNOX.
    Experimental Cell Research 05/2012; 318(14):1759-66. · 3.58 Impact Factor