PDF file - 752K, Table S1. ATF3 expression and clinicopathological findings in bladder cancer. Table S2. Relationship between ATF3 and GSN expression in bladder cancer. Table S3. Multivariate Cox proportional hazards regression for metastasis-free survival of patients with bladder cancer. Figure S1. Establishment and characterization of the highly metastatic cell subline T24-L. Figure S2. Agreement between pathologists and automated staining categories. Figure S3. ATF3 is downregulated in bladder cancer tissue. Figure S4. ATF3 regulates GSN expression in bladder cancer cells.
ARTICLE ABSTRACT
Bladder cancer is associated with high recurrence and mortality rates due to metastasis. The elucidation of metastasis suppressors may offer therapeutic opportunities if their mechanisms of action can be elucidated and tractably exploited. In this study, we investigated the clinical and functional significance of the transcription factor activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) in bladder cancer metastasis. Gene expression analysis revealed that decreased ATF3 was associated with bladder cancer progression and reduced survival of patients with bladder cancer. Correspondingly, ATF3 overexpression in highly metastatic bladder cancer cells decreased migration in vitro and experimental metastasis in vivo. Conversely, ATF3 silencing increased the migration of bladder cancer cells with limited metastatic capability in the absence of any effect on proliferation. In keeping with their increased motility, metastatic bladder cancer cells had increased numbers of actin filaments. Moreover, ATF3 expression correlated with expression of the actin filament severing protein gelsolin (GSN). Mechanistic studies revealed that ATF3 upregulated GSN, whereas ATF3 silencing reduced GSN levels, concomitant with alterations in the actin cytoskeleton. We identified six ATF3 regulatory elements in the first intron of the GSN gene confirmed by chromatin immunoprecipitation analysis. Critically, GSN expression reversed the metastatic capacity of bladder cancer cells with diminished levels of ATF3. Taken together, our results indicate that ATF3 suppresses metastasis of bladder cancer cells, at least in part through the upregulation of GSN-mediated actin remodeling. These findings suggest ATF3 coupled with GSN as prognostic markers for bladder cancer metastasis. Cancer Res; 73(12); 3625–37. ©2013 AACR.
