4.1N suppresses hypoxia-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition in epithelial ovarian cancer cells

Abstract

Protein 4.1N (4.1N) is a member of the protein 4.1 family and is essential for the regulation of cell adhesion, motility and signaling. Previous studies have suggested that 4.1N may serve a tumor suppressor role. However, the molecular mechanisms remain unclear. In the current study, the role of 4.1N in the downregulation of hypoxia-induced factor 1α (HIF-1α) under hypoxic conditions and therefore the suppression of hypoxia induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was investigated. The data were obtained from overexpressed and knockdown 4.1N epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cell lines. It was identified that 4.1N was capable of regulating the sub-cellular localization and expression levels of HIF-1α, by which 4.1N served a dominant role in the suppression of hypoxia-induced EMT and associated genes. Collectively, the data of the current study identified 4.1N as an inhibitor of hypoxia-induced tumor progression in EOC cells and highlighted its potential role in EOC therapy.