The glycosyltransferase LARGE2 is repressed by Snail and ZEB1 in prostate cancer

Abstract

Reductions in both expression of the dystroglycan core protein and functional glycosylation of the α-dystroglycan (αDG) subunit have been reported in a number of cancers and may contribute to disease progression. In the case of prostate cancer, one mechanism that contributes to αDG hypoglycosylation is transcriptional down-regulation of LARGE2 (GYLTY1B), a glycosyltransferase that produces the functional (laminin-binding) glycan on αDG, but the mechanism(s) underlying reduction of LARGE2 mRNA remain unclear. Here, we show that αDG hypoglycosylation is associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-like status. We examined immunoreactivity for both functionally-glycosylated αDG and E-cadherin by flow cytometry and the relative expression of ZEB1 mRNA and the αDG glycosyltransferase LARGE2 mRNA in prostate and other cancer cell lines by quantitative RT-PCR. To study the role of ZEB1 and other transcription factors in the regulation of LARGE2, we employed overexpression and knockdown approaches. Snail- or ZEB1-driven EMT caused αDG hypoglycosylation by repressing expression of the LARGE2 mRNA, with both ZEB1-dependent and -independent mechanisms contributing to Snail-mediated LARGE2 repression. To examine the direct regulation of LARGE2 by Snail and ZEB1 we employed luciferase reporter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. Snail and ZEB1 were found to bind directly to the LARGE2 promoter, specifically to E/Z-box clusters. Furthermore, analysis of gene expression profiles of clinical samples in The Cancer Genome Atlas reveals negative correlation of LARGE2 and ZEB1 expression in various cancers. Collectively, our results suggest that LARGE2 is negatively regulated by Snail and/or ZEB1, revealing a mechanistic basis for αDG hypoglycosylation during prostate cancer progression and metastasis.

Keywords:

• dystroglycan
• EMT
• glycosyltransferase
• GYLTL1B
• LARGE2
• prostate cancer
• Snail
• ZEB1

Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest

No potential conflicts of interest were disclosed.

Acknowledgments

We thank members of Henry Laboratory and Christine Blaumueller for comments on the manuscript.

Funding

This work was supported, in whole or in part, by National Institutes of Health Grants R01CA130916 (MDH) and CTSA: 2 UL1 TR000442-06 (JS). Core facilities used in these studies were supported by NIH grant P30 CA086862.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's website.