J Cancer 2019; 10(17):3926-3932. doi:10.7150/jca.31345 This issue Cite
Research Paper
1. NHC Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis (Central South University) and Hunan Key Laboratory of Translational Radiation Oncology, Hunan Cancer Hospital and The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Xiangya School of Medicine, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
2. The Key Laboratory of Carcinogenesis and Cancer Invasion of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Cancer Research Institute and Basic Medical Science, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
3. Hunan Key Laboratory of Nonresolving Inflammation and Cancer, Disease Genome Research Center, The Third Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China.
4. Department of Chemistry, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, USA.
Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a highly metastatic tumor that occurs frequently in Southeast Asia, particularly including southern China. Epstein-Barr virus infection is well established as a primary cause of NPC; nevertheless, the mechanisms underlying NPC pathogenesis remain largely unknown. In our previous study, we conducted whole-genome sequencing to screen for genomic variations that were associated with NPC. Of the resultantly identified variations, glypican-6 (GPC6), was shown, for the first time, to be frequently mutated in NPC. In the present study, we verified this finding and conducted a series of functional experiments, which demonstrated that GPC6 promotes the migration, invasion, and proliferation of NPC cells in vitro. Thus, the present study identified novel biological functions for GPC6 in NPC, and thus, showed that GPC6 may be a promising potential therapeutic target for this disease.
Keywords: NPC, GPC6, genomic variations, migration, invasion, proliferation