Effect of extracellular vesicle ZNF280B derived from lung cancer stem cells on lung cancer progression.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research was to investigate the role of extracellular vesicles derived from lung cancer stem cells (lung CSCs-EVs) in lung cancer and to explore their potential mechanisms. METHODS: Lung CSCs were first isolated and verified using flow cytometry and RT-qPCR assays. Lung CSCs-EVs were extracted through ultracentrifugation and further characterized using transmission electron microscopy and Western blotting. The interaction between lung CSCs-EVs and lung cancer cells was observed through PKH67 staining. Subsequently, we analyzed the differentially expressed genes in lung CSCs using bioinformatics data analysis and evaluated the prognostic value of ZNF280B in lung cancer with the Kaplan-Meier Plotter. RT-qPCR was utilized to assess the mRNA expression levels of these genes, while Western blotting was used to evaluate the protein expression levels of ZNF280B and P53. Next, CCK-8 and colony formation assays were conducted to assess the effects of lung CSCs-EVs and ZNF280B on cancer cell proliferation, migration (via wound healing assay), and invasion (using transwell assay). Additionally, subcutaneous tumor-bearing experiments in nude mice were performed to evaluate the roles of lung CSCs-EVs in lung cancer progression in vivo. RESULTS: The results indicated that lung CSCs-EVs accelerated the progression of lung cancer. Mechanistically, these lung CSCs-EVs transferred ZNF280B into cancer cells, leading to the inhibition of P53 expression. CONCLUSIONS: In summary, the manuscript first describes the molecular mechanism by which lung CSCs-EVs promote pro-cancer functions in lung cancer through the ZNF280B/P53 axis.