TMEM176B inhibits ovarian cancer progression by regulating EMT via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

作者：Lili Yan, Zhaona Song, Lili Yi, Conghui Tian, Ruirui Zhang, Xuying Qin, Xiang Wang, Shaoda Ren, Xiaoping Ma, Xiaobing Wang, Xiaofeng Zhao, Feifei Wang, Jianmei Wei, Xiaodong Jia, Mingliang Gu, Fengjiao Yuan, Dianlong Jia · 发表于：Journal of Translational Medicine · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1186/s12967-025-06362-0 · 被引用次数：6 · 研究领域：Wnt/β-catenin signaling in development and cancer、Cancer Cells and Metastasis、Connective Tissue Growth Factor Research

BACKGROUND: Ovarian cancer (OC) is recognized as one of the deadliest forms of gynecological cancer, approximately two-thirds of patients have already developed metastasis when they are diagnosed. The function of transmembrane protein 176B (TMEM176B) in the progression of OC remains elusive. This study aimed to investigate the role and molecular mechanism of TMEM176B on OC proliferation and metastasis. METHOD: Expression of TMEM176B in OC and normal tissues were determined from the TCGA, GTEx, and CPTAC databases, and verified by patient-derived tissue samples. We analysed the prognostic relevance of TMEM176B in OC via Kaplan‒Meier (K‒M) survival curves and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Subsequent in vitro assays, including the CCK8 assay, colony formation assay, wound healing assay, and transwell assay, were performed to detect the influence of TMEM176B on cell proliferation and metastasis. Furthermore, a tumorigenesis study in nude mice was conducted to confirm the suppressive impact of TMEM176B on OC. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was utilized to uncover the mechanisms of TMEM176B on OC progression. Spearman correlation analysis was used to calculate the correlations between TMEM176B and cell adhesion, DNA replication, and the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Finally, the role of TMEM176B in regulating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) depending on the Wnt/β-catenin pathway was evaluated using LiCl agonist. RESULT: The mRNA expression of TMEM176B was significa...