Cervical Cancer Metastasis is Potentiated by LGR4 through Regulation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition
CHEN Jihao, TANG Jiajia, CHEN Xiaogang, HOU Qiang*
LGR4 (leucine-rich repeat containing G-protein-coupled receptor 4) has long been associated with the development of varies of cancers. However, the causal role and mechanism of LGR4 in cervical cancer remain unclear. Immunohistochemical analysis confirmed that LGR4 was highly expressed in cervical cancer tissues. The Kaplan-Meier analysis showed that patients with high expression level of LGR4 had a significantly shorter overall survival time compared with patients with low LGR4 level. In vitro studies showed that knockdown or overexpression of LGR4 in HeLa cells influenced cell migration and invasion abilities without affecting cell proliferation. To elucidate the mechanisms, this paper tested migration and invasion correlated EMT signaling pathway. Western blot and immunofluorescence experiment confirmed that LGR4 regulated HeLa cell migration and invasion through EMT. Finally, LGR4’s role in cervical cancer metastasis was assessed in an in vivo murine model. The results showed that LGR4 promoted the metastasis of cervical cancer in vivo.
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