Open Access

ARTICLE

OLFM4 Inhibits Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition and Metastatic Potential of Cervical Cancer Cells

Juan Li^*†1, Chunyan Liu^‡1, Dawei Li^§, Meng Wan^¶, Hong Zhang^†, Xiaoxia Zheng^†, Xuemei Jie^†, Pengju Zhang^¶, Jingjing Li^#, Hongchun Hou^†, Qing Sun^*

* Department of Pathology, Qianfoshan Hospital Affiliated with Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
† Department of Gynecology, Jinan Women and Children’s Health Hospital, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
‡ Department of Combined Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Medical College of Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong, P.R. China
§ Department of Neurology, People’s Hospital of Xintai City, Affiliated to Taishan Medical University, Xintai, Shandong, P.R. China
¶ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Shandong University School of Medicine, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
# Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China

Oncology Research 2019, 27(7), 763-771. https://doi.org/10.3727/096504018X15399955297355

Abstract

OLFM4 has been shown to play an important role in tumor initiation and progression. This study aims to investigate the role of OLFM4 in metastatic cervical cancer and its underlying mechanism. Here we discover that OLFM4 expression is significantly reduced in metastatic cervical cancer. Accordingly, overexpression of OLFM4 inhibits epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT), migration, and invasion in human cervical cancer cells. To further explore its molecular mechanisms, we reveal that OLFM4 augmentation interferes with mTOR signaling pathway, and the suppressive effects of OLFM4 on cell migration and invasion are largely weakened by phosphatidic acid (PA)-induced mTOR signal activation, which implicates the potential role of the mTOR pathway in OLFM4-related cervical metastasis. In conclusion, our results confirm OLFM4 as a tumor suppressor that inhibits cervical cancer metastasis by regulating mTOR signal pathway.

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