LIMK1 is a serine protease that is highly expressed in various tumors and is closely associated with tumor initiation, progression, and metastasis. Here, researchers investigated the mechanisms of LIMK1's role in cervical cancer progression. The study showed that LIMK1 overexpression promoted tumor growth in nude mice. Cell scratch assays, Transwell assays, and colony formation assays demonstrated that LIMK1 promoted the invasion, migration, and proliferation of cervical cancer cells. Western blotting results showed that LIMK1 promoted the expression of ROS-related proteins NOX2, NOX4, p-Src, and their downstream proteins p-FAK, p-ROCK1/2, p-Cofilin-1, and F-actin, while inhibiting the expression of p-SHP2 protein. Correction experiments indicated that LIMK1 regulates the expression of p-FAK and p-Cofilin-1 proteins by regulating ROS and p-Src. By examining the function of cervical cancer cells, it was found that LIMK1-induced ROS and p-Src activation are early events that promote cervical cancer cell migration, proliferation, and invasion.
To investigate the effect of LIMK1 on the proliferative capacity of cervical cancer cells, researchers conducted a colony formation assay. The results showed that the number of colonies in LIMK1-overexpressing (LIMK1-OE) SiHa and CaSki cells was significantly higher than that of the control group (NC group). Compared with the control group, the number of colonies in LIMK1-knockdown (LIMK1-KD) SiHa and CaSki cells was significantly reduced (Figure 1).
Figure 1. LIMK1 promoted the proliferation of cervical cancer cells. (Jia Y, et al., 2024)