Open Access

ARTICLE

Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 is involved in the regulation of exosome secretion and uptake in colorectal cancer cells

HAIZHENG LIU¹, SHAOFEI CHANG^2,*

1 Anorectal Surgery, Yuncheng City Central Hospital, Yuncheng, 044000, China
2 Department of Gastrointestinal and Pancreatic Surgery, Shanxi Provincial People’s Hospital, Taiyuan, 030012, China

* Corresponding Author:SHAOFEI CHANG,

BIOCELL 2022, 46(2), 453-462. https://doi.org/10.32604/biocell.2021.015340

Received 10 December 2020; Accepted 01 February 2021; Issue published 20 October 2021

Abstract

Lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase 1 (LPCAT1) is a phospholipid acyltransferase that promotes phospholipid synthesis and plasma membrane reconstruction. Exosomes play an important role in tumor metastasis. The release and uptake of exosomes are key steps of their functions and depend on plasma membrane fusion and plasma membrane receptors, respectively. The purpose of this study was to explore whether LPCAT1-induced plasma membrane remodeling would change the secretion and uptake behavior of exosomes in tumor cells. We first confirmed the abnormally high expression of LPCAT1 in colorectal cancer cells by quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) and Western blot analysis. Then, SW620 cells were used as exosome source cells, and SW480 cells were used as exosome receiver cells. Exosomes from SW620 cells could effectively promote the migration of SW480 cells. When LPCAT1 expression was reduced via siRNA knockdown in the source cells, the secretion of exosomes was downregulated, thus weakening the pro-migratory effects of exosomes on target cells. Conversely, when LPCAT1 was knocked down in target cells, the uptake of exosomes in target cells also decreased sharply. These results undoubtedly revealed that LPCAT1 is functionally associated with the release and internalization of exosomes in colorectal cancer cells and could affect the paracrine effects of exosomes, preliminarily extending the classical metabolic function of LPCAT1 to exosome-related pathways.

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