TMSB10 promotes migration and invasion of cancer cells and is a novel prognostic marker for renal cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The study aims to examine the effect of thymosin ß10 (TMSB10) on renal cell carcinoma (RCC) progression and metastasis. METHODS: Real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry analysis were used to evaluate TMSB10 expression in RCC tissue samples and renal cancer cells. Statistical analyses were applied to investigate the association between TMSB10 expression and the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of RCC patients. In vitro migration and invasion assays were performed in 786-O and ACHN cells. RESULTS: The expression of TMSB10 was significantly higher in renal cancer cells and tissues compared with normal kidney cells and tissues. TMSB10 expression was significantly related to tumor stage (P=0.002), lymph node metastasis (P=0.034), and distant metastasis (P=0.039). Kaplan-Meier analysis suggested that high TMSB10 expression was significantly associated with unfavorable overall (P=0.004) and recurrent-free survival (P=0.025) of RCC patients. Furthermore, TMSB10 knockdown inhibited the migration and invasion abilities of renal cancer cells in vitro. CONCLUSION: TMSB10 is overexpressed in RCC and regulates malignant cell metastasis by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition, which makes TMSB10 a candidate therapeutic target for RCC.