GABARAP suppresses EMT and breast cancer progression via the AKT/mTOR signaling pathway
Ying Liu, Dandan Wang, Mengxia Lei, Jiayi Gao, Yuqing Cui, Xiaoying Jin, Qiujie Yu, Ying Jiang, Yan Guo, Yali Liu, Li Cai, Xuesong Chen
Abstract
. Notably, low levels of GABARAP induced the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Low levels of GABARAP increased p-AKT and p-mTOR levels, and a specific AKT pathway inhibitor reversed the downregulation of GABARAP-induced tumor progression. GABARAP negatively correlated with advanced clinicopathological features in clinical specimens, such as tumor size and TNM stage. Notably, patients with low GABARAP levels had a poor prognosis. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) revealed that GABARAP expression negatively correlated with matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) 2 and MMP14. Conclusively, these data indicate that GABARAP suppresses the malignant behaviors of breast cancer likely via the AKT/mTOR pathway. The targeting of GABARAP may improve the certainty of diagnosis and treatment strategies for breast cancer.