Regulation mechanism of chemokine CXCL3 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), a malignancy arising from the nasopharyngeal mucosal epithelium, remains poorly understood at molecular level. This study identifies CXCL3, a chemokine, as a critical oncogenic driver in NPC through multi-dataset transcriptomic analysis (GSE12452, GSE53819 and GSE61218). CXCL3 was identified to be upregulated in NPC tissues and correlated with tumor progression (P = 0.022) and poor prognosis. Immune infiltration analysis revealed its association with mast cell accumulation and immunosuppressive checkpoints (CD200, CD44 and CD70). Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) linked CXCL3 to ECM-receptor-interaction, JAK-STAT and MAPK pathways. Functional assays demonstrated that CXCL3 silencing suppressed the SUNE-1 cells proliferation (P < 0.01), migration, and invasion abilities (P < 0.05), induced G2/M-phase arrest and reduced S-phase populations via MAPK/ERK pathway inhibition (p-ERK1/2, p-P38 and p-STAT3 down-regulated). Immunohistochemistry confirmed elevated CXCL3 expression in NPC tissues (approximately 80 % positivity) versus normal controls (100 % negative). Notably, CXCL3 knockdown impaired tubule formation in vitro, implicating its role in vascular remodeling. These findings establish CXCL3 as a multifaceted regulator of NPC progression through immune microenvironment modulation, MAPK/ERK signaling, and angiogenesis, nominating it as a potential therapeutic target in NPC.