TGFBI regulates the TGF-β pathway to affect the malignant progression and cisplatin sensitivity in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma

Despite the association between aberrant TGFBI expression and tumors development found in various cancer types, the role of TGFBI in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) progression is not clear. This study attempted to reveal how TGFBI impacts malignant progression and cisplatin sensitivity in DLBCL. Bioinformatics and qRT-PCR were used to analyze expression of TGFBI. To investigate the effect of TGFBI on malignant progression and cisplatin sensitivity in DLBCL cells, cell viability and IC50 values were assessed by CCK-8. Cell proliferation ability was detected by colony formation assay. Cell apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry. The degree of DNA damage in cells from different treatment groups was detected by comet assay. Protein expression of TGF-β pathway-related proteins like TGF-β1, Smad2, and p-Smad2 was detected by western blot. Bioinformatics and molecular experiments results revealed substantial upregulation of TGFBI in DCBCL. Cell experiment results indicated that high TGFBI expression expedited DCBCL progression and reduced cisplatin sensitivity. Further rescue experiments revealed that SB525334, a TGF-β pathway inhibitor, could weaken the acceleration of DCBCL progression and restore reduced cisplatin sensitivity both induced by high TGFBI expression. TGFBI could promote malignant progression and inhibit the cisplatin sensitivity of DLBCL cells by regulating the TGF-β pathway. In brief, TGFBI has the potential to be a target in DLBCL treatment.