TRIM29 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration, invasion and predicts the prognosis of patients

Objectives Gastric cancer (GC) is the fourth most common cancer and second leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. Tripartite motif-containing 29 (TRIM29), a member of the TRIM family of transcription factors, exhibits a contextual function in cancer. The present study aimed to study the expression, function and prognosis significance in GC. Methods Real-time PCR and Western blot were performed to analyze the expression profiles of TRIM29 in GC samples and cell lines. Kaplan-Meier analysis was done to reveal the relationship of TRIM29 expression with overall survival of the patients. Cell-based assays including MTT and flow cytometry and subcutaneous tumorigenicity were performed to investigate the function of TRIM29 in gastric cancer cell proliferation. Transwell assays were performed to investigate the function of TRIM29 in cell migration and invasion. Real-time PCR and Western blot were finally used to explore the mechanism. Results TRIM29 was upregulated in GC samples and cell lines and higher levels of TRIM29 were associated with poor overall survival of patients. RNAi guided TRIM29 knock-down significantly inhibited GC cell proliferation, induced cell cycle arrest, inhibited GC cell migration and invasion, and repressed the tumor formation in nude mice. The expression levels of p53 and 13-catenin proteins were impaired by TRIM29 knockdown, indicating a possible linkage underlying the oncogenic role of TRIM29 in GC. Conclusion Our findings provide important evidence that gain of TRIM29 expression contributes to GC cell proliferation and it may serve as a potential prognostic biomarker for GC.