Knockdown of Microtubule Associated Serine/threonine Kinase Like Expression Inhibits Gastric Cancer Cell Growth and Induces Apoptosis by Activation of ERK1/2 and Inactivation of NF-κB Signaling

Microtubule-associated serine/threonine kinase (MASTL) functions to regulate chromosome condensation and mitotic progression. Therefore, aberrant MASTL expression is commonly implicated in various human cancers. This study analyzed MASTL expression in gastric cancer vs. adjacent normal tissue for elucidating the association with clinicopathological data from patients. This work was then extended to investigate the effects of MASTL knockdown on tumor cells in vitro. The level of MASTL expression in gastric cancer tissue was assessed from the UALCAN, GEPIA, and Oncomine online databases. Lentivirus carrying MASTL or negative control shRNA was infected into gastric cancer cells. RT-qPCR, Western blotting, cell viability, cell counting, flow cytometric apoptosis and cell cycle, and colony formation assays were performed. MASTL was upregulated in gastric cancer tissue compared to the adjacent normal tissue, and the MASTL expression was associated with advanced tumor stage, Helicobacter pylori infection and histological subtypes. On the other hand, knockdown of MASTL expression significantly reduced tumor cell viability and proliferation, and arrested cell cycle at G₂/M stage but promoted tumor cells to undergo apoptosis. At protein level, knockdown of MASTL expression enhanced levels of cleaved PARP1, cleaved caspase-3, Bax and p-ERK1/2 expression, but downregulated expression levels of BCL-2 and p-NF-κB-p65 protein in AGS and MGC-803 cells. MASTL overexpression in gastric cancer tissue may be associated with gastric cancer development and progression, whereas knockdown of MASTL expression reduces tumor cell proliferation and induces apoptosis. Further study will evaluate MASTL as a potential target of gastric cancer therapeutic strategy.

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