Journal of Peking University (Health Sciences) ›› 2024, Vol. 56 ›› Issue (3): 495-504. doi: 10.19723/j.issn.1671-167X.2024.03.017

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Role and mechanism of cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 in the malignant progression of neuroblastoma

Yao ZHANG,Jinxin GUO,Shijia ZHAN,Enyu HONG,Hui YANG,Anna JIA,Yan CHANG,Yongli GUO,Xuan ZHANG*()   

  1. National Center for Children's Health; Beijing Children's Hospital, Capital Medical University; Key Laboratory of Major Diseases in Children, Ministry of Education; Beijing Pediatric Research Institute; Beijing Key Laboratory for Pediatric Diseases of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery; Beijing 100045, China
  • Received:2023-11-30 Online:2024-06-18 Published:2024-06-12
  • Contact: Xuan ZHANG E-mail:x_zhang1992@163.com
  • Supported by:
    the Beijing Natural Science Foundation(7244341);the Research and Development Program of Beijing Municipal Education Commission(KM202210025010);the Beijing Hospitals Authority Clinical Medicine Development of Special Funding Support(XMLX202121);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82293660);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82293665);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82141118);the National Natural Science Foundation of China(82172849)

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Abstract:

Objective: To investigate the function and underlying mechanism of cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2 (CSRP2) in neuroblastoma (NB). Methods: The correlation between the expression level of CSRP2 mRNA and the prognosis of NB children in NB clinical samples was analyzed in R2 Genomics Analysis and Visualization Platform. The small interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting CSRP2 or CSRP2 plasmid were transfected to NB cell lines SK-N-BE(2) and SH-SY5Y. Cell proliferation was observed by crystal violet staining and real-time cellular analysis. The ability of colony formation of NB cells was observed by colony-forming unit assay. Immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the expression of the proliferation marker Ki-67. Flow cytometry analysis for cell cycle proportion was used with cells stained by propidium iodide (PI). Annexin V/7AAD was used to stain cells and analyze the percentage of cell apoptosis. The ability of cell migration was determined by cell wound-healing assay. The level of protein and mRNA expression of CSRP2 in NB primary tumor and NB cell lines were detected by Western blot and quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Results: By analyzing the NB clinical sample databases, it was found that the expression levels of CSRP2 in high-risk NB with 3/4 stages in international neuroblastoma staging system (INSS) were significantly higher than that in low-risk NB with 1/2 INSS stages. The NB patients with high expression levels of CSRP2 were shown lower overall survival rate than those with low expression levels of CSRP2. We detected the protein levels of CSRP2 in the NB samples by Western blot, and found that the protein level of CSRP2 in 3/4 INSS stages was significantly higher than that in 1/2 INSS stages. Knockdown of CSRP2 inhibited cell viability and proliferation of NB cells. Overexpression of CSRP2 increased the proliferation of NB cells. Flow cytometry showed that the proportion of sub-G1, G0/G1 and S phase cells and Annexin V positive cells were increased after CSRP2 deficiency. In the cell wound-healing assay, the healing rate of NB cells was significantly attenuated after knockdown of CSRP2. Further mechanism studies showed that the proportion of the proliferation marker Ki-67 and the phosphorylation levels of extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 (ERK1/2) were significantly decreased after CSRP2 knockdown. Conclusion: CSRP2 is highly expressed in high-risk NB with 3/4 INSS stages, and the expression levels of CSRP2 are negatively correlated with the overall survival of NB patients. CSRP2 significantly increased the proliferation and cell migration of NB cells and inhibited cell apoptosis via the activation of ERK1/2. All these results indicate that CSRP2 promotes the progression of NB by activating ERK1/2, and this study will provide a potential target for high-risk NB therapy.

Key words: Cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2, Neuroblastoma, Cell proliferation, Cell migration, Extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2

CLC Number: 

  • R739.4

Table 1

Clinical characteristics of pediatric patients with NB"

Case no. Gender Age at diagnosis/years Primary tumor site INSS stage Prognosis Date of last follow-up
1 Female 0.4 Retroperitoneal 1 Survival 2019.12.18
2 Female 5.2 Adrenal 1 Survival 2019.12.20
3 Male 1.0 Adrenal 2 Survival 2019.12.18
4 Female 3.9 Neck 3 Survival 2019.12.18
5 Female 1.2 Adrenal 3 Survival 2019.12.18
6 Male 5.5 Adrenal 4 Survival 2019.12.18
7 Female 5.2 Retroperitoneal 4 Survival 2019.12.18
8 Female 8.7 Adrenal 4 Survival 2019.12.18

Table 2

The sequences of small interfering RNA"

Name of siRNA Sense (5′-3′)
Human-siCSRP2-1# GAAGAGATCTACTGCAAAT
Human-siCSRP2-2# GCACAACAGTGGCAATTCA

Table 3

Primers of target genes"

Gene name Primer sequence (5′-3′) Product length/bp
CSRP2 Forward: TGGGAGGACCGTGTACCAC 177
Reverse: CCGTAGCCTTTTGGCCCATA
GAPDH Forward: GAGTCAACGGATTTGGTCGT 238
Reverse: TTGATTTTGGAGGGATCTCG

Figure 1

Correlations of the expression levels of CSRP2 with INSS stages and overall survival probability in different NB clinical samples A, expression levels of CSRP2 mRNA in INSS stages in Versteeg-88 NB database (GSE16476). B, Kaplan-Meier analysis of NB overall survival probability and CSRP2 expression correlation (Versteeg-88, GSE16476 database). C, expression levels of CSRP2 mRNA in INSS stages in SEQC-498 NB database (GSE49710). D, Kaplan-Meier analysis of NB overall survival probability and CSRP2 expression correlation (SEQC-498, GSE49710 database). E, expression levels of CSRP2 mRNA in INSS stages in Westermann-144 NB database. F, Kaplan-Meier analysis of NB overall survival probability and CSRP2 expression correlation (Westermann-144 database). G, expression levels of CSRP2 mRNA in INSS stages in Kocak-649 NB database (GSE45547). H, Kaplan-Meier analysis of NB overall survival probability and CSRP2 expression correlation (Kocak-649, GSE45547 database); Cutoff mode: median. I, immunoblotting analysis of CSRP2 in NB samples of different INSS stages. J, quantification of relative protein levels of CSRP2 in Figure I. High: high CSRP2 expression group; Low: low CSRP2 expression group. CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2; INSS, international neuroblastoma staging system; NB, neuroblastoma."

Figure 2

Effect of knockdown of CSRP2 on cell viability and colony formation ability of two NB cell lines SK-N-BE(2) and SH-SY5Y A, immunoblotting analysis of CSRP2 in MYCN-amplified NB cell lines and MYCN-unamplified NB cell lines. B, quantification of relative protein levels of CSRP2 in Figure A. C, mRNA expression levels of CSRP2 in SK-N-BE(2) cells and SH-SY5Y cells after siRNA transfection at 24 h, 48 h, and 72 h by RT-qPCR ($\bar x \pm s$, n=3, *** P<0.001). D, SK-N-BE(2) cells transfected with siRNA for 72 h were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 20 min and stained with 0.1% crystal violet for 30 min at room temperature. Bright field and crystal violet staining images were shown (×100). E, RTCA monitoring of SK-N-BE(2) after siRNA transfection for 60 h (*** P<0.001). F, colony formation of SK-N-BE(2) on the 14th day after siRNA transfection (** P<0.01). G, bright field and crystal violet staining images of SH-SY5Y cells were shown (methods were the same as D, ×100). H, RTCA monitoring of SH-SY5Y after siRNA transfection for 60 h (*** P<0.001). I, colony formation of SH-SY5Y on the 14th day after siRNA transfection (** P<0.01, *** P<0.001). siCtrl, siRNA targeting luciferase reporter control; siCSRP2-1#, number 1 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; siCSRP2-2#, number 2 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2; NB, neuroblastoma; siRNA, small interfering RNA; RT-qPCR, quantitative real-time PCR; RTCA, real time xCELLigence analysis system."

Figure 3

Proliferation ability of NB cell lines after overexpression of CSRP2 A, SK-N-BE(2) cells transfected with plasmids for 96 h were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde for 20 min and stained with 0.1% crystal violet for 30 min at room temperature. Bright field and crystal violet staining images were shown (×100). B, immunoblotting analysis of Flag-CSRP2 and GAPDH in SK-N-BE(2) cells after plasmid transfection. C, RTCA monitoring of SK-N-BE(2) after plasmid transfection for 120 h (** P<0.01, *** P<0.001). D, bright field and crystal violet staining images of SH-SY5Y cells were shown (methods were the same as A, ×100). E, immunoblotting analysis of Flag-CSRP2 and GAPDH in SH-SY5Y cells after plasmid transfection. F, RTCA monitoring of SH-SY5Y after plasmid transfection for 120 h (*** P<0.001). CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2; NB, neuroblastoma; RTCA, real time xCELLigence analysis system."

Figure 4

Effects of knockdown of CSRP2 on the percentage of cell cycle, Ki-67 level and apoptosis ratio of SK-N-BE(2) cells A, the relative level of cells in every stage of cell cycle in SK-N-BE(2) cells after siRNA transfection by flow cytometry. B, Ki-67 expression in SK-N-BE(2) cells after siRNA transfection for 72 h by immunofluorescence assay. SK-N-BE(2) cells transfected with siRNA were fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, incubated in 0.3% Triton X-100 for 10 min, and blocked with 5% bovine serum albumin. Cells were incubated with anti-Ki67 antibody conjugated with FITC. Nucleus was stained with Hoechst33342 (×600, ** P<0.01). C, the relative level of apoptotic SK-N-BE(2) cells after siRNA transfection for 72 h by flow cytometry (*** P<0.001). siCtrl, siRNA targeting luciferase reporter control; siCSRP2-1#, number 1 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; siCSRP2-2#, number 2 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2."

Figure 5

Effect of knockdown of CSRP2 on the wound closure in NB cell lines A, representative images of scratch wound assay in SK-N-BE(2) cells, the yellow line means scratch, and the wound closure was analyzed at 24 h and 48 h (* P<0.05, ** P<0.01); B, representative images of scratch wound assay in SH-SY5Y cells, the yellow line means scratch, and the wound closure was analyzed at 24 h and 48 h (* P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001). siCtrl, siRNA targeting luciferase reporter control; siCSRP2-1#, number 1 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; siCSRP2-2#, number 2 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2; NB, neuroblastoma."

Figure 6

Effect of knockdown of CSRP2 on the protein levels of p-ERK1/2 and ERK1/2 in NB cells lines A, immunoblotting analysis and quantification of Ki-67, p-ERK1/2, ERK1/2, and CSRP2 in SK-N-BE(2) cells after siRNA transfection for 72 h. B, immunoblotting analysis and quantification of Ki-67, p-ERK1/2, ERK1/2, and CSRP2 in SH-SY5Y cells after siRNA transfection for 72 h. siCtrl, siRNA targeting luciferase reporter control; siCSRP2-1#, number 1 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; siCSRP2-2#, number 2 siRNA targeting human CSRP2; CSRP2, cysteine and glycine-rich protein 2; NB, neuroblastoma; ERK1/2, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2; p-ERK1/2, phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2; siRNA, small interfering RNA."

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