Recombinant Water Stress Protein 1 (Re-WSP1) Suppresses Colon Cancer Cell Growth Through Mir-539/Β-Catenin Signaling Pathway

Abstract Nostoc commune Vauch is a nitrogen-fixing blue-green algae, contains a large number of active molecules with medicinal functions. Our previous study found that a water stress protein (WSP1) from Nostoc commune Vauch and its the recombinant protein (Re-WSP1) exhibited significant anti-colon cancer (CRC) activity both in vitro and in vivo. However, the underlying mechanism remains unknown. In this study, the CCK8 and clonogenic assays showed that Re-WSP1 restrained the colon cancer growth in a dose-dependent manner. Mechanistically, Re-WSP1 inhibited the expression of β-catenin, which was partly reversed by LiCl treatment, demonstrating a key role in Re-WSP1-induced inhibition of cell growth. Quantitative PCR analysis showed that the expression of microRNA-539 (miR-539) was significantly up-regulated upon Re-WSP1 treatment. Moreover, miR-539 negatively regulateed the expression of β-catenin through directly binds to the 3’UTR of β-catenin mRNA. Taken together, our data demonstrate that Re-WSP1 suppresses the CRC growth via miR-539/β-catenin axis, which provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying Re-WSP1 against CRC.