Bisphenol A at a human exposed level can promote epithelial‐mesenchymal transition in papillary thyroid carcinoma harbouring <i>BRAF</i>^V600E mutation

Abstract

Bisphenol A (BPA), a ubiquitous endocrine-disrupting chemical, alters the function of endocrine system and enhances the susceptibility to tumorigenesis in several hormone-dependent tumours as thyroid carcinoma. About 50% of papillary thyroid cancers (PTC), the most common type of thyroid malignancy, harbours the BRAF^V600E mutation. This study aimed to investigate a potential combined effect of BPA exposure and BRAF^V600E mutation on epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in PTC. Firstly, the level of BPA in plasma, the evaluation of BRAF^V600E mutation and the level of EMT-related proteins in PTC samples were individually determined. Additionally, the migration, invasion, colony formation capacity and the expression of EMT-related proteins after exposure to BPA were precisely analysed in vitro thyroid cells genetically modified by the introduction of BRAF^V600E mutation. Moreover, ERK-Cox2 signalling pathway was also introduced to explore the possible mechanism in PTC development. As expected, whether the clinical investigation or cultured thyroid cells demonstrated that BPA at a concentration compatible with human exposed levels (10^-7 M) synergized with the BRAF^V600E mutation promoted EMT via the activation of ERK-Cox2 signalling pathway. Our findings offer some evidence that BPA as an environmental risk factor can facilitate the progression of PTC harbouring BRAF^V600E mutation.