Low-dose radiation-induced epithelial-mesenchymal transition through NF-κB in cervical cancer cells

Cervical cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer among women. Radiotherapy for cervical cancer is an effective treatment method; however, the response to radiotherapy varies among patients. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a morphogenesis process involved in embryonic and organismal development. During tumour progression, EMT may enhance cancer cell invasion, promoting tumour metastasis. We hypothesised that EMT was involved in the enhanced invasiveness of cervical cancer cells after low-dose radiation and aimed to elucidate the underlying mechanism of this process in low-dose radiation of cervical cancer. The irradiated cells (FIR cells) were derived from the parental cells (N cells) with a cumulative dose of 75 Gy. After resting and reorganisation, the effect of low-dose radiation on the FIR cells was analysed. The expression of E-cadherin, N-cadherin and p65 was detected by real-time qPCR and western blotting in parental cancer cells and irradiated cancer cells. Motility was detected using the migration/invasion assay. After silencing of NF-κB p65 expression using siRNA against p65, the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin was examined by real‑time qPCR and western blotting. We found that low-dose radiation induced morphological changes of cells. The expression of epithelial markers was downregulated and mesenchymal markers were induced in irradiated cells, both of which are characteristics of EMT. Additionally, in irradiated cells, migration and invasion were enhanced and the expression of p65 was increased. To investigate whether p65 was involved in EMT, we silenced the expression of p65 in irradiated cells using siRNA and found that the features of EMT were suppressed. In summary, p65-regulated EMT induced by low-dose irradiation of cervical cancer cell lines promoted the invasiveness and metastasis of cervical cancer cells. The reversal of EMT may be a new therapeutic target for improving the effectiveness of radiotherapy for cervical cancer.