Open Access

The Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway activates transcription of Slug (Snail2) in melanoma cells

  • Authors:
    • Pavel Horák
    • Kateřina Kreisingerová
    • Jiri Réda
    • Lubica Ondrušová
    • Jan Balko
    • Jiri Vachtenheim Jr
    • Petra Žáková
    • Jiri Vachtenheim
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: March 1, 2023     https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2023.8512
  • Article Number: 75
  • Copyright: © Horák et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution License.

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Abstract

In melanoma and other cancers, invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, metastasis and cancer stem cell maintenance are regulated by transcription factors including the Snail family. Slug (Snail2) protein generally supports migration and apoptosis resistance. However, its role in melanoma is not completely understood. The present study investigated the transcriptional regulation of the SLUG gene in melanoma. It demonstrated that SLUG is under the control of the Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway and is activated predominantly by the transcription factor GLI2. The SLUG gene promoter contains a high number of GLI-binding sites. Slug expression is activated by GLI factors in reporter assays and inhibited by GANT61 (GLI inhibitor) and cyclopamine (SMO inhibitor). SLUG mRNA levels are lowered by GANT61 as assessed by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR. Chromatin immunoprecipitation revealed abundant binding of factors GLI1-3 in the four subregions of the proximal SLUG promoter. Notably, melanoma-associated transcription factor (MITF) is an imperfect activator of the SLUG promoter in reporter assays, and downregulation of MITF had no effect on endogenous Slug protein levels. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed the above findings and showed MITF-negative regions in metastatic melanoma that were positive for GLI2 and Slug. Taken together, the results demonstrated a previously unrecognized transcriptional activation mechanism of the SLUG gene, which may represent its main regulation of expression in melanoma cells.
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April-2023
Volume 49 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1021-335X
Online ISSN:1791-2431

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Spandidos Publications style
Horák P, Kreisingerová K, Réda J, Ondrušová L, Balko J, Vachtenheim Jr J, Žáková P and Vachtenheim J: The Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway activates transcription of Slug (Snail2) in melanoma cells. Oncol Rep 49: 75, 2023
APA
Horák, P., Kreisingerová, K., Réda, J., Ondrušová, L., Balko, J., Vachtenheim Jr, J. ... Vachtenheim, J. (2023). The Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway activates transcription of Slug (Snail2) in melanoma cells. Oncology Reports, 49, 75. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2023.8512
MLA
Horák, P., Kreisingerová, K., Réda, J., Ondrušová, L., Balko, J., Vachtenheim Jr, J., Žáková, P., Vachtenheim, J."The Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway activates transcription of Slug (Snail2) in melanoma cells". Oncology Reports 49.4 (2023): 75.
Chicago
Horák, P., Kreisingerová, K., Réda, J., Ondrušová, L., Balko, J., Vachtenheim Jr, J., Žáková, P., Vachtenheim, J."The Hedgehog/GLI signaling pathway activates transcription of Slug (Snail2) in melanoma cells". Oncology Reports 49, no. 4 (2023): 75. https://doi.org/10.3892/or.2023.8512