PABPC1L depletion inhibits proliferation and migration via blockage of AKT pathway in human colorectal cancer cells

Numerous studies have demonstrated that PABPC1 participates in the process of carcinogenesis and its function is inconsistent in different types of cancers. PABPC1-like (PABPC1L) is an important paralog of PABPC1 and few studies are available on the roles of PABPC1L in colorectal cancer (CRC) development. Hence, we explored the biological function and prognostic impact of PABPC1L in CRC. The mRNA expression of PABPC1L in CRC was determined based on the data obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) was utilized to determine the PABPC1L mRNA expression level in CRC HT-29 and LS-174T cell lines. Kaplan-Meier method and Cox proportional-hazards model were utilized to conduct the survival and prognosis analyses. HT-29 cells with silenced PABPC1L were constructed to explore the effect of PABPC1L on cell proliferation, invasion and migration capacities using cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8), clone formation, wound-healing and Transwell assays, respectively. To uncover the potential mechanisms of how PABPC1L influences CRC proliferation and migration, we analyzed the expression of AKT, p-AKT, PI3K, and p-PI3K in HT-29 cells using western blotting. Our results revealed that PABPC1L was overexpressed in CRC tissues compared with normal tissues based on the data obtained from TCGA database. Similarly, the mRNA expression of PABPC1L was higher in HT-29 and LS-174T cells than that in CCD-18Co cells. The expression of PABPC1L in CRC was found to be significantly related to age, pathologic stage, pathologic-node, pathologic-metastasis, and death. In univariate and multivariate analyses, pathologic-tumor and pathologic-metastasis were identified as independent prognostic factors for CRC. After PABPC1L depletion, cell proliferation rate, colony numbers, and the invasive and migratory capacity of HT-29 cells were all reduced. Western blot analysis showed that reduction of PABPC1L significantly inhibited p-AKT, and p-PI3K expression level in HT-29 cells. Collectively, our results suggested that PABPC1L is a potential novel candidate oncogene in CRC, and targeting PABPC1L may provide clinical utility in CRC.