The role of ZNF395 in renal cell carcinoma proliferation, migration, and invasion

• Published in: Journal of clinical oncology Vol. 34; no. 2_suppl; p. 592
• Main Authors: Zhao, Chen, Wood, Christopher G., Karam, Jose A., Maity, Tapati, Wang, Lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 10.01.2016
• DOI: 10.1200/jco.2016.34.2_suppl.592
• ISSN: 0732-183X

Abstract only 592 Background: Zinc finger protein 395 (ZNF395) is frequently altered in several tumor types. However, the role of ZNF395 remains poorly studied in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC). In this study, we investigated the in vitro and in vivo role of ZNF395 in ccRCC. Methods: cBioPortal For Cancer Genomics was used to correlate the expression of ZNF395 with RCC patient clinical, pathological and molecular profiles. ZNF395 protein and mRNA levels were studied in several RCC cell lines in vitro. Subsequently, ZNF395 knockdown was performed in 786-O and UMRC3 RCC cells and overexpression was done in Caki-1 and 769-P RCC cells. We then evaluated ZNF395 modulation in these cell lines by in vitro MTT, migration and invasion assays. Finally, we studied the effect of ZNF395 knockout and overexpression in vivo using SCID xenograft models. Results: Patients with higher expression of ZNF395 experienced longer disease-free survival and overall survival. Using in vitro models, we confirmed that knockdown of ZNF395 decreased ZNF395 expression, and increased proliferation, migration and invasiveness of 786-O and UMRC3, while overexpression of ZNF395 increased ZNF395 expression, and reduced proliferation, migration and invasiveness of Caki-1 and 769-P. Using in vivo mouse models, knockdown of ZNF395 expression in 786-O promoted tumor growth while its overexpression in Caki-1 resulted in tumor growth inhibition. We are currently performing experiments to understand the process by which ZNF395 regulates ccRCC pathogenesis. Conclusions: Our data support the role of ZNF395 as an important tumor suppressor gene in the pathogenesis of RCC.