Abstract:
Objective: To investigate the effect of cystathionine β-synthase (CBS) on the proliferation of lung adenocarcinoma A549 cells through the AKT/cyclin D1 pathway and its molecular mechanism. Methods: Expression of CBS and AKT/cyclinD1-related proteins in lung adenocarcinoma tissues was analyzed by cBioPortal database. The CBS expression in collected lung adenocarcinoma tissues from Chinese patients was verified by immunofluorescence method. WB assay was performed to detect the expression of cysteine metabolism and AKT/cyclin D1 pathway-related proteins in A549 cells and their transplanted tumors, and CBS DNA methylation sequencing was performed to detect the effect of its methylation on CBS mRNA expression in lung cancer cells. The pCW57.1-myrAKT plasmid was co-transfected with RNA interference control plasmid pGIPZ-CBS-nc-shRNA, interference plasmid pGIPZ-CBS-shNRA1 and pGIPZ-CBS-shNRA2, respectively, into A549 cells, which were further sub-divided into DOX+ and DOX-groups. The colony formation ability of A549 cells in each group after transfection was examined by cell colony formation assay. The effect of overexpression of CBS on the growth of transplanted tumors was examined by CBSwt A549 cell- and CBSI278TA549 cell-transplanted tumor assay, and AzMC fluorescence staining and immunohistochemistry were used to detect H2S levels and Ki-67 positivity in transplanted tumor tissues, respectively. Results: Both database analysis and tissue specimens showed that CBS was lowly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues compared with para-cancerous tissues (all P<0.01); CBS protein was lowly expressed in A549, SKMES1 and NCIH460 cells compared with SV-40 cells (all P<0.01), while p-AKT and cyclin D1 protein levels were highly expressed (all P<0.01). Overexpression of AKT in A549 cells significantly promoted the formation of cell colonies (P<0.01), and knockdown of CBS on this basis further promoted the formation of cell colonies (all P<0.01). Transplantation tumor experiments showed that CBS, RB and P21 protein expression was elevated, H2S level was increased, tumor volume was decreased and Ki-67 positivity was reduced in the DOX+ CBSWT group compared with those in the DOX- CBSWT group (all P<0.01); CBS expression was elevated in the DOX+ CBSI278T group compared with the DOX- CBS I278T group (P<0.01), but the changes in H2S level and transplantation tumor volume were not significant. Conclusions: CBS is lowly expressed in lung adenocarcinoma tissues and A549 cells, while the AKT/cyclinD1 pathway is activated. Overexpression or knockdown of CBS can inhibit or promote the growth of A549 cells and their transplanted tumors, and CBS and AKT/cyclin D1 pathway-related proteins may be the potential targets and markers for lung adenocarcinoma.