NF-κB p65 promotes ovarian cancer cell proliferation and migration via regulating mortalin

Previous studies show that mortalin, a HSP70 family member, contributes to the development and progression of ovarian cancer. However, details of the transcriptional regulation of mortalin remain unknown. We aimed to determine whether NF-κB p65 participates in the regulation of mortalin expression in ovarian cancer cells and to elucidate the underlying mechanism. Chromatin immunoprecipitation and luciferase reporter assay were used to identify mortalin gene sequences, to which NF-κB p65 binds. Results indicated that NF-κB p65 binds to the mortalin promoter at a site with the sequence 'CGGGGTTTCA'. Using lentiviral pLVX-NF-κB-puro and Lentivirus-delivered NF-κB short hairpin RNA (shRNA), we created ovarian cancer cell lines in which NF-κB p65 was stably up-regulated and down-regulated. Using these cells, we found that downregulation of NF-κB p65 inhibits the growth and migration of ovarian cancer cells. Further experimental evidence indicated that downregulation of NF-κB p65 reduced mortalin, and upregulation of mortalin rescued the proliferation and migration of ovarian cancer cells reduced by NF-κB p65 knockdown. In conclusion, NF-κB p65 binds to the mortalin promoter and promotes ovarian cancer cells proliferation and migration via regulating mortalin.