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Simple Summary: Colorectal cancer is a major cause of morbidity and mortality that affects men and women equally. Here, we present the role of voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV) and Sodium/hydrogen exchanger type 1 (NHE-1) in conferring invasive capabilities to colorectal cancer cells. We also study how pharmacological inhibition or suppression of their expression by siRNA modifies the aggressive cancer cell phenotype. Our findings suggest that NaV channels and NHE-1 are pertinent molecular targets for cancer therapy. Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with 0.9 million deaths per year. The metastatic stage of the disease is identified in about 20% of cases at the first diagnosis and is associated with low patient-survival rates. Voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV) are abnormally overexpressed in several carcinomas including CRC and are strongly associated with the metastatic behavior of cancer cells. Acidification of the extracellular space by Na+/H+ exchangers (NHE) contributes to extracellular matrix degradation and cell invasiveness. In this study, we assessed the expression levels of pore-forming α-subunits of NaV channels and NHE exchangers in tumor and adjacent non-malignant tissues from colorectal cancer patients, CRC cell lines and primary tumor cells. In all cases, SCN5A (gene encoding for NaV1.5) was overexpressed and positively correlated with cancer stage and poor survival prognosis for patients. In addition, we identified an anatomical differential expression of SCN5A and SLC9A1 (gene encoding for NHE-1) being particularly relevant for tumors that originated on the sigmoid colon epithelium. The functional activity of NaV1.5 channels was characterized in CRC cell lines and the primary cells of colon tumors obtained using tumor explant methodologies. Furthermore, we assessed the performance of two new small-molecule NaV1.5 inhibitors on the reduction of sodium currents, as well as showed that silencing SCN5A and SLC9A1 substantially reduced the 2D invasive capabilities of cancer cells. Thus, our findings show that both NaV1.5 and NHE-1 represent two promising targetable membrane proteins against the metastatic progression of CRC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Loss of epithelial polarity and gain in invasiveness by carcinoma cells are critical events in the aggressive progression of cancers and depend on phenotypic transition programs such as the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Many studies have reported the aberrant expression of voltage-gated sodium channels (NaV) in carcinomas and specifically the NaV1.5 isoform, encoded by the SCN5A gene, in breast cancer. NaV1.5 activity, through an entry of sodium ions, in breast cancer cells is associated with increased invasiveness, but its participation to the EMT has to be clarified. In this study, we show that reducing the expression of NaV1.5 in highly aggressive human MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells reverted the mesenchymal phenotype, reduced cancer cell invasiveness and the expression of the EMT-promoting transcription factor SNAI1. The heterologous expression of NaV1.5 in weakly invasive MCF-7 breast cancer cells induced their expression of both SNAI1 and ZEB1 and increased their invasive capacities. In MCF-7 cells the stimulation with the EMT-activator signal TGF-β1 increased the expression of SCN5A. Moreover, the reduction of the salt-inducible kinase 1 (SIK1) expression promoted NaV1.5-dependent invasiveness and expression of EMT-associated transcription factor SNAI1. Altogether, these results indicated a prominent role of SIK1 in regulating NaV1.5-dependent EMT and invasiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second leading cause of death worldwide, with 0.9 million deaths per year. The metastatic stage of the disease is identified in about 20% of cases at the first diagnosis and is associated with low patient-survival rates. Voltage-gated sodium channels (Na V ) are abnormally overexpressed in several carcinomas including CRC and are strongly associated with the metastatic behavior of cancer cells. Acidification of the extracellular space by Na + /H + exchangers (NHE) contributes to extracellular matrix degradation and cell invasiveness. In this study, we assessed the expression levels of pore-forming α-subunits of Na V channels and NHE exchangers in tumor and adjacent non-malignant tissues from colorectal cancer patients, CRC cell lines and primary tumor cells. In all cases, SCN5A (gene encoding for Na V 1.5) was overexpressed and positively correlated with cancer stage and poor survival prognosis for patients. In addition, we identified an anatomical differential expression of SCN5A and SLC9A1 (gene encoding for NHE-1) being particularly relevant for tumors that originated on the sigmoid colon epithelium. The functional activity of Na V 1.5 channels was characterized in CRC cell lines and the primary cells of colon tumors obtained using tumor explant methodologies. Furthermore, we assessed the performance of two new small-molecule Na V 1.5 inhibitors on the reduction of sodium currents, as well as showed that silencing SCN5A and SLC9A1 substantially reduced the 2D invasive capabilities of cancer cells. Thus, our findings show that both Na V 1.5 and NHE-1 represent two promising targetable membrane proteins against the metastatic progression of CRC.

The SCN4B gene, coding for the Na V β4 subunit of voltage-gated sodium channels, was recently found to be expressed in normal epithelial cells and down-regulated in several cancers. However, its function in normal epithelial cells has not been characterized. In this study, we demonstrated that reducing Na V β4 expression in MCF10A non-cancer mammary epithelial cells generated important morphological changes observed both in two-dimensional cultures and in three-dimensional cysts. Most notably, the loss of Na V β4 induced a complete loss of epithelial organisation in cysts and increased proteolytic activity towards the extracellular matrix. Loss of epithelial morphology was associated with an increased degradation of β-catenin, reduced E-cadherin expression and induction of mesenchymal markers N-cadherin, vimentin, and α-SMA expression. Overall, our results suggest that Navβ4 may participate in the maintenance of the epithelial phenotype in mammary cells and that its downregulation might be a determining step in early carcinogenesis.