SPLUNC1 and MLL3 regulate cancer stem cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the common types of cancer that originate from the nasopharyngeal region. Recurrence and early metastasis represent major problems associated with NPC mortality. These are mainly caused by various molecular changes that take place during the conversion of normal stem cells into treatment-resistant stem cells. The aim of our study was to investigate the proliferative behavior of cancer stem cells in different stages of NPC and to identify the functional roles of SPLUNC1 and MLL3 associated with cancer stem cells.

We successfully developed a NPC mouse model using C666-1 cells. Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were used to analyze the expression of SOX2, SPLUNC1 and MLL3.

Null BALB/c mice developed initial and aggressive stages of NPC in 3 and 10 weeks, respectively. Histological results showed that the proliferative ability of cells increased as the tumor progressed to the next level. The SOX2 protein showed a peculiar pattern of upregulation in aggressive NPC when compared with control tissues and initial NPC. Remarkably, our study found that SPLUNC1 and MLL3 expression showed upregulation in initial NPC, which indicates their role in the tumor resistance mechanism even if their expression was downregulated in aggressive NPC.

Our results conclude that SPLUNC1 and MLL3 expression control the resistance mechanism of cancer stem cells in initial NPC, but their downregulation in aggressive stages contributes to developing resistance in nasopharyngeal cancer stem cells.