A New Functional Gene, Zinc Finger Protein 485 (ZNF485), is Involved in Bladder Cancer Proliferation

BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer is the second most common urological cancer worldwide, with low early diagnosis and high mortality. The limited progress in diagnostics and treatment greatly impedes the survival of bladder cancer patients. OBJECTIVE: Potential therapeutic biomarkers are urgently needed for future clinical treatment. METHODS: We analyzed the sequencing data and corresponding clinicopathological features and survival information of bladder cancer patients in the TCGA database and identified a new zinc finger protein 485 gene, termed ZNF485, which is highly expressed in the tissues of bladder cancer patients and was verified in cells, animal models and tissue microarrays. RESULTS: We found that inhibition of ZNF485 in the bladder cancer cell lines T24 and 5637 obviously inhibited proliferation and promoted the apoptosis of cancer cells. Furthermore, wound healing and invasion assays showed that downregulation of ZNF485 significantly decreased the mobility and invasion of T24 and 5637 cells. In addition, ZNF485-shRNA transfection obviously inhibited tumor growth in nude mice. Immunohistochemical results of clinical samples showed that the expression level of ZNF485 protein in cancer tissues was higher than that in adjacent tissues. Mechanistic analysis identified possible downstream target genes. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, the results provide evidence that ZNF485 is involved in bladder cancer proliferation and might be a potential therapeutic biomarker for the treatment of this disease.