Overexpressed versican promoted cell multiplication, migration and invasion in gastric cancer

Versican (VCAN) is verified to promote development among many cancers, whose function on gastric cancer (GC) is less studied. This work explored the effect of VCNA on GC. The differentially expressed VCAN between tumor and normal samples, among different cancer stages and the overall survival of GC patients with high and low VCAN levels were predicted through Gene Expression Profiling Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2). The association between VCAN and clinicopathological parameters was analyzed by clinical investigation. AGS and NCI-N87 cells were transfected with VCAN short hairpin RNA (shVCAN) and VCAN overexpression plasmid. The VCNA, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, E-Cadherin, N-Cadherin and Vimentin expression was detected through quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blot. Cell viability was assessed through MTT assay. Cell migration was measured by wound healing assay and cell invasion was evaluated through Transwell assay. Cell cycle was determined by flow cytometry assay. VCAN was upregulated in GC and its high expression related to advanced TNM stage, Lymph node metastasis, Depth of invasion and Grade. VCAN knockdown inhibited multiplication, migration, invasion, Cyclin D1, Cyclin E, N-Cadherin and Vimentin expression while induced cycle arrest and E-Cadherin level of GC cells, whereas overexpressed VCAN showed opposite results. VCAN had a potential to be a biomarker for GC and overexpressed VCAN promoted GC cell multiplication, migration and invasion.