Inhibition of mTOR-Akt-ULK1 signaling pathway and activation of autophagy by TNFAIP8 in metastasis of gastric cancer

Background The purpose of this article is to study the mechanism of TNFAIP8 in gastric cancer. Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the expression of TNFAIP8 mRNA in normal gastric mucosa cells and four gastric cancer cell lines. TNFAIP8 was silenced or overexpressed in two cell lines, CCK-8 cell viability was used, transwell experiment was used to detect cell invasion capability, and flow cytometry was used to detect cell apoptosis. TNFAIP was silenced or overexpressed in a cell line, and nude mice were inoculated to form transplanted tumors. HE staining and immunohistochemistry staining were used to detect the histopathological changes of tumors. Results The expression of TNFAIP8 was significantly up-regulated in GC patients and cells. After silencing and overexpressing TNFAIP8, gastric cancer cells with high expression increased, apoptosis decreased, and cell invasion increased. Expression of mTOR-Akt-ULK1 signal pathway was inhibited and autophagy signal was activated. Conclusions Our findings indicate that TNFAIP8 inhibits the metastasis of gastric cancer cells by inhibiting mTOR-Akt-ULK1 signal pathway and activating autophagy signal.