The PCNP/β-Catenin Axis Promotes Ovarian Cancer Progression

PCNP is associated with human cancers including neuroblastoma and lung cancer. However, the role and underlying molecular mechanism of PCNP have not been plenty elucidated. Herein, we first investigated the effects of PCNP in ovarian cancer proliferation, apoptosis, migration and invasion and determined the molecular mechanism of PCNP in ovarian cancer progression. The results indicated that PCNP was significantly overexpressed in human ovarian cancer tissues and cells, and related to poor prognosis in ovarian cancer patients. In addition, we also detected that PCNP promoted ovarian cancer cells growth, migration and invasion, as well as inhibited ovarian cancer cells apoptosis. Mechanistically, PCNP bound to β-catenin, promoted β-catenin nuclear translocation and further activated Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Moreover, PCNP regulated the expression of genes involved in EMT and further triggered EMT occurrence. Together, these results summarized that PCNP/β-catenin axis may promote ovarian cancer progression, supplying a novel and promising targets to improve prognosis and treat ovarian cancer. Funding Statement: The research was supported by two National Natural Science Foundation of China (81670088, 81602708) and Henan Provincial Science and Technology Department International Cooperation Project (172102410019). Declaration of Interests: The authors declare no potential conflicts of interest. Ethics Approval Statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Ethical Board at Henan University. All animal procedures were manipulated with the approval of the Medical and Research Ethics Committee of Henan University Medical School.