Musashi1 promotes tumor metastasis and is a prognostic marker for renal carcinoma.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Musashi1 (MSI1) has been reported to be involved in cancer development and progression. The biologic role of MSI1 in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), however, remains unknown. METHODS: Expression of MSI1 in normal kidney cells and kidney cancer cells were measured by real-time PCR. In addition, MSI1 expression in 20 paired kidney cancer and non-cancerous tissues were quantified using real-time PCR. Furthermore, the expression of MSI1 in 115 kidney cancer samples was detected to analyze the correlations between MSI1 expression and the clinicopathological features of RCC patients. The biological function of MSI1 on tumor cell invasion and migration were explored through wound healing and transwell migration assays. RESULTS: MSI1 was significantly upregulated in renal cancer cells and tissues compared with normal kidney cells and tissues. High levels of MSI1 were positively associated with tumor stage (P=0.002) and distant metastasis (P=0.013) of RCC patients. Patients with higher MSI1 expression had a significantly poorer overall and recurrence-free survival time (P=0.019 and P=0.012, respectively) than patients with low MSI1 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that MSI1 overexpression was an independent prognostic indicator (P=0.009 and P=0.015, respectively) for the survival of RCC patients. Ablation of MSI1 inhibited the invasion and metastasis of renal cancer cells. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that MSI1 expression is upregulated in RCC, and that MSI1 plays an important role in promoting cell invasion and metastasis of RCC.