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Abstract Background Fermitin family member 1 (FERMT1) is significantly overexpressed in human cancers and associated with poor prognosis, but its contributions to tumorigenesis and nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) progression remain unclear. Methods The public GEO database was examined to investigate the role of FERMT1. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining of FERMT1 was performed in NPC tissues to corroborate the results. Western blotting and qRT-PCR were performed to test the expression of related proteins and mRNAs. Cell counting kit-8 assay (CCK8 assay) and colony formation assays were carried out to investigate the association of FERMT1 expression with NPC cell proliferation. The wound healing assay and Transwell assay were used to detect the migration and invasion of NPC cells. Flow cytometric analysis was conducted to detect the cell cycle transition of NPC cells. Co-immunoprecipitation (Co-IP) was employed to identify the correlation of FEMRT1 and Nod-like receptor family protein 3 (NLRP3). Xenograft tumors were generated to investigate the effect of FERMT1 on the growth of NPC cells in vivo. Results Here, we found that FERMT1 was upregulated in NPC tissues and correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics of NPC patients. Moreover, knockdown of FERMT1 significantly decreased cell proliferation, migration and invasion by mediating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) and cell cycle arrest of NPC cells both in vitro and in vivo. Knockdown FERMT1 inhibited EMT through directly binding to the NLRP3 and inhibited NF-kB signaling pathway. Conclusion These data indicated that FERMT1 could be a good potential therapeutic target for NPC treatment.

Abstract Background Bladder cancer (BLCA) is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. One of the main reasons for the unsatisfactory management of BLCA is the complex molecular biological mechanism. Annexin A1 (ANXA1), a Ca2+-regulated phospholipid-binding protein, has been demonstrated to be implicated in the progression and prognosis of many cancers. However, the expression pattern, biological function and mechanism of ANXA1 in BLCA remain unclear. Methods The clinical relevance of ANXA1 in BLCA was investigated by bioinformatics analysis based on TCGA and GEO datasets. Immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis was performed to detect the expression of ANXA1 in BLCA tissues, and the relationships between ANXA1 and clinical parameters were analyzed. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to study the biological functions of ANXA1 in BLCA. Finally, the potential mechanism of ANXA1 in BLCA was explored by bioinformatics analysis and verified by in vitro and in vivo experiments. Results Bioinformatics and IHC analyses indicated that a high expression level of ANXA1 was strongly associated with the progression and poor prognosis of patients with BLCA. Functional studies demonstrated that ANXA1 silencing inhibited the proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of BLCA cells in vitro, and suppressed the growth of xenografted bladder tumors in vivo. Mechanistically, loss of ANXA1 decreased the expression and phosphorylation level of EGFR and the activation of downstream signaling pathways. In addition, knockdown of ANXA1 accelerated ubiquitination and degradation of P-EGFR to downregulate the activation of EGFR signaling. Conclusions These findings indicate that ANXA1 is a reliable clinical predictor for the prognosis of BLCA and promotes proliferation and migration by activating EGFR signaling in BLCA. Therefore, ANXA1 may be a promising biomarker for the prognosis of patients with BLCA, thus shedding light on precise and personalized therapy for BLCA in the future.