Transcription Factor FOXA1 Facilitates Glycolysis and Proliferation of Lung Adenocarcinoma via Activation of TEX19

Glycolysis is a shared feature in various cancers including lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). Testis Expressed 19 (TEX19) is correlated with cancer progression. But its effect on LUAD remains an unanswered question. The focus of our study was primarily to investigate how TEX19 works exactly in LUAD. We first downloaded mRNA data from TCGA-LUAD and performed differential expression analysis. Then, we performed a Kaplan–Meier analysis to analyze the relationship between mRNA expression and patients’ prognoses. hTFtarget database was utilized for the prediction of upstream transcription factors of mRNA. Next, qRT-PCR was employed for detecting TEX19 and Forkhead box A1 (FOXA1) expression. Western blot was adopted to detect the expression of glycolysis-related proteins. We also used CCK-8, colony formation, and flow cytometry assays to detect cell viability, proliferation, and apoptosis. Seahorse XF Extracellular Flux Analyzers were introduced to analyze extracellular acidification rate (ECAR) and oxygen consumption rate (OCR). Detection kits were used to detect pyruvate, lactate, citric acid, and malic acid. TEX19 was highly expressed in LUAD tissues. Real-time quantitative PCR (qRT-PCR) assay showed that TEX19 was significantly overexpressed in LUAD cell lines compared with normal bronchial epithelial cells BEAS-2B. Knockdown of TEX19 remarkably inhibited cell activity and proliferation, and promoted cell apoptosis, TEX19 was enriched in the glycolytic pathway. Meanwhile, the knockdown of TEX19 significantly hampered the contents of pyruvate, lactate, citric acid, and malic acid. The bioinformatics analysis, dual luciferase reporter experiment, and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assay showed that FOXA1 was bound with TEX19. FOXA1 had a high expression level in LUAD. The rescue assay demonstrated that FOXA1, by activating TEX19 expression, enhanced glycolysis and proliferation and inhibited apoptosis of LUAD cells. In summary, FOXA1 promoted glycolysis and proliferation of LUAD cells by activating TEX19. This result can provide a theoretical basis for future research on LUAD.