VASN drives gastric tumorigenesis via activation of the COL4A1/PI3K/AKT axis during Helicobacter pylori infection

Vasorin (VASN) is linked to tumor progression in various cancers, its role and regulatory mechanisms in gastric cancer (GC) are still unknown.

Human gastric mucosal samples, VASN heterozygous-deficient (VASN^+/-) C57BL/6 mice, and gastric cell lines with VASN knockdown and overexpression were used to study VASN's role in GC. A combination of in vitro and in vivo models, RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), proteomics, bioinformatics, and various assays revealed VASN's critical involvement in GC.

Elevated VASN expression was significantly associated with poor clinical outcomes in GC patients. We identified a strong correlation between increased VASN expression, driven by Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection, and the progression of gastric carcinogenesis. Functional studies demonstrated that VASN overexpression enhanced the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric epithelial cells, whereas VASN knockdown suppressed these malignant phenotypes. Mechanistically, the collagen type IV alpha 1 chain (COL4A1) was identified as a critical downstream effector of VASN in GC. VASN exerted its oncogenic effects by regulating COL4A1 to activate the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. Furthermore, H. pylori infection was demonstrated to induce hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) expression, which subsequently upregulated VASN.

The HIF-1α-VASN-COL4A1-PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is crucial for gastric tumor development and may represent a therapeutic target for GC.