HCP5 promotes colon cancer development by activating AP1G1 via PI3K/AKT pathway

To explore whether HCP5 participates in the pathogenic progression of colon cancer (CC) and its underlying mechanism.

HCP5 expression in CC tissues and cell lines was detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). The correlation between the HCP5 expression and tumor stage of CC patients was then analyzed. After CC cells were transfected with HCP5-siRNA, the proliferation and migration capacities were detected by cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), colony formation and transwell assay, respectively. Cell cycle was examined by flow cytometry. Western blot was conducted to detect protein expressions of HCP5, AP1G1 and relative molecules in the PI3K/AKT pathway. Rescue experiments were performed by co-transfection of HCP5-siRNA and AP1G1-siRNA into CC cells, followed by cell function detection.

HCP5 was highly expressed, whereas AP1G1 was lowly expressed in CC tissues and cell lines. Besides, CC patients with stage III-IV presented higher expression of HCP5 than those with stage I-II. The knockdown of HCP5 in CC cells down-regulated proliferation and migration capacities, and arrested cell cycle in the G0/G1 phase, which was reversed by the AP1G1 knockdown. In addition, HCP5 knockdown up-regulated AP1G1 expression, whereas down-regulated the expression of relative proteins in the PI3K/AKT pathway.

HCP5 was significantly increased in CC and enhanced the proliferation and migration of CC cells by inhibiting the AP1G1 expression. HCP5 promoted CC development by activating the PI3K/AKT pathway.