MTDH promotes metastasis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma by activating SND1-mediated ERK signaling and epithelial-mesenchymal transition.

Background: Metastasis is the principal cause of renal cell carcinoma-associated mortality. Metadherin (MTDH) was identified as a vital metastasis driver involved in the metastatic progression of various types of tumors, suggesting that MTDH is a prognostic metastatic biomarker and potential therapeutic target. The role and mechanism of MTDH in the metastatic progression of ccRCC have not yet been adequately explored.

Results: MTDH was remarkably elevated in ccRCC tissues, especially in metastatic ccRCC tissues, compared with normal kidney tissues and correlated with advanced clinicopathological features and poor prognosis. MTDH activated ERK signaling and EMT, thus promoting the migration and invasion of ccRCC cells. The interaction between MTDH and SND1 at the protein level was confirmed using immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence. Based on the analysis of datasets from GEO and TCGA, SND1 was remarkably increased in ccRCC, especially in metastatic ccRCC, and associated with advanced clinicopathological features and poor prognosis. Knockdown of SND1 mainly abolished the migration and invasion of ccRCC cells by blocking MTDH-mediated ERK and EMT signaling activation.

Conclusion: These results revealed that MTDH may be a prognostic metastatic biomarker of ccRCC that promotes ccRCC metastasis by activating SND1-mediated the ERK and EMT signaling pathways. MTDH may serve as an anti-tumor therapeutic target that can be applied for the clinical treatment of metastatic ccRCC.

Methods: MTDH/SND1 mRNA expression in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) was comprehensively estimated by analysis of GEO-ccRCC and TCGA-KIRC datasets with R software and packages. MTDH protein expression was assessed in a total of 111 ccRCC patients from Peking University First Hospital by immunohistochemistry (IHC). In vitro migration and invasion assays were carried out, and an in vivo metastatic mouse model was developed to investigate the biological functions of MTDH in ccRCC cells. Correlation analysis, immunoprecipitation, western blotting and immunofluorescence were applied to explore the molecular mechanisms of MTDH in ccRCC.