Positive regulation of spondin 2 by thyroid hormone is associated with cell migration and invasion

The thyroid hormone 3,3′,5-triiodo-L-thyronine (T₃) regulates growth, development, and differentiation processes in animals. These activities are mediated by the nuclear thyroid hormone receptors (TRs). Microarray analyses were performed previously to study the mechanism of regulation triggered by T₃ treatment in hepatoma cell lines. The results showed that spondin 2 was regulated positively by T₃. However, the underlying mechanism and the physiological role of T₃ in the regulation of spondin 2 are not clear. To verify the microarray results, spondin 2 was further investigated using semi-quantitative reverse transcription-PCR and western blotting. After 48 h of T₃ treatment in the HepG2-TRα1#1 cell line, spondin 2 mRNA and protein levels increased by 3.9-to 5.7-fold. Similar results were observed in thyroidectomized rats. To localize the regulatory region in spondin 2, we performed serial deletions of the promoter and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays. The T₃ response element on the spondin 2 promoter was localized in the -1104/-1034 or -984/-925 regions. To explore the effect of spondin 2 on cellular function, spondin 2 knockdown cell lines were established from Huh7 cells. Knockdown cells had higher migration ability and invasiveness compared with control cells. Conversely, spondin 2 overexpression in J7 cells led to lower migration ability and invasiveness compared with control cells. Furthermore, this study demonstrated that spondin 2 overexpression in some types of hepatocellular carcinomas is TR dependent. Together, these experimental findings suggest that spondin 2, which is regulated by T₃, has an important role in cell invasion, cell migration, and tumor progression.