TAZ promoting angiogenesis and its mechanism in gastric cancer / 中国肿瘤临床

ABSTRACT

Objective: To determine the expression of TAZ and its role in angiogenesis in gastric carcinoma. Methods: Immunohistochemical staining was performed to investigate the expression of TAZ and to determine whether a direct relationship exists between TAZ and β-catenin. Transfection with TAZ overexpression plasmid in MKN28 cells was conducted to induce exogenous expression of TAZ and a TAZ knockdown plasmid was transfected into MGC803 cells to reduce TAZ levels. The effects on endothelial cell formation, proliferation, and migration were determined by Matrigel three-dimensional culture, MTT proliferation assay and Transwell migration assay. In addition, the expression of TAZ and β-catenin in transfected gastric cancer cells was detected by Western blot. Results: Immunohistochemistry showed that TAZ protein was expressed in 64 of 150 gastric cancer sample tissues (43%), TAZ was localized in the nucleus, and its expression was associated with tumor grade, TNM stage, metastasis, and microvessel density (MVD) (P<0.05). In addition, the expression frequency of β-catenin in the TAZ positive group was 67.2%, which was significantly higher than that in the TAZ negative group, and the expression of TAZ was positively correlated with β-catenin. After transfection, TAZ overexpression increased the expression of β-catenin and enhanced HUVECs tube formation, proliferation, and migration. In the MGC803 cells transfected with the knockdown plasmid, β-catenin levels were decreased and HUVECs motility was inhibited. Conclusions: TAZ may promote angiogenesis in gastric cancer by promoting β-catenin expression.