Breast cancer is one of the most prevalent malignancies in women worldwide. Although great progress has been achieved in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, the prognosis of patients with breast cancer is still poor due to distal recurrence and metastasis after surgery. This study demonstrated that the expression level of ankyrin repeat domain 22 (ANKRD22) in human breast cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in normal breast tissues. ANKRD22 knockdown inhibited the proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of breast cancer cells. Further research indicated that ANKRD22 regulated the expression of nucleolar and spindle-associated protein 1 (NuSAP1) and then the activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Moreover, overexpression of NuSAP1 reversed the inhibitory effects of ANKRD22 knockdown on the proliferation, invasion, and EMT of breast cancer cells. In summary, this study demonstrated that ANKRD22 enhanced breast cancer cell malignancy by activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway via modulating NuSAP1 expression, which might shed light on new therapeutic approaches for breast cancer.
The incidence and mortality of breast cancer rank first among all types of female tumors. To improve patients’ prognosis with advanced breast cancer, new and more effective targets still need to be explored and identified. Tetraspanin 1 (TSPAN1) is highly expressed in several cancers and affects the progression of these tumors. However, there are few studies focused on its role in breast cancer. Previous study showed that TSPAN1 promoted epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and metastasis, and whether TSPAN1 could promote breast cancer via regulating EMT needs further study. In this study, we found high TSPAN1 expression in breast cancer tumor samples and cell lines which was confirmed by bioinformation analysis. The ablation of TSPAN1 suppressed the growth, and motility of breast cancer cells. We further found that TSPAN1 affected the EMT and mediated the PI3K/Akt pathway in breast cancer cells. In addition, TSPAN1 depletion suppressed tumor growth of breast cancer in mice. In summary, we thought TSPAN1 suppressed growth and motility of breast cancer via mediating EMT and PI3K/AKT pathway, and could serve as a potential target for treatment of breast cancer.
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