Suppression of the NTS-CPS1 regulatory axis by AFF1 in lung adenocarcinoma cells

Up-regulation of the neuropeptide NTS in a subgroup of lung cancers has been linked to poor prognosis. However, the regulatory pathway centered on NTS in lung cancer remains unclear. Here we identified the NTS specific enhancer in lung adenocarcinoma cells. The AF4/FMR2 (AFF) family protein AFF1 occupies the NTS enhancer and inhibits NTS transcription. Clustering analysis of lung adenocarcinoma gene expression data demonstrated that NTS is highly positively correlated with the expression of the oncogenic factor CPS1. Detailed analyses demonstrated that NTS antagonizes the IL6 pathway in regulating CPS1. Thus, our analyses revealed a novel NTS centered regulatory axis, consisting of AFF1 as a master transcription suppressor and IL6 as an antagonist in lung adenocarcinoma cells. Overall design: AFF1 ChIP sample. RNA-seq in control and AFF1 knockdown A549 cells were performed in duplicates.