MCM 4 upregulation predicts poor prognosis in gastric cancer

Mini-chromosome maintenance protein 4 (MCM4) is essential for the initiation of DNA replication. However, the expression and prognostic values of MCM4 in gastric cancer (GC) are still unclear. In our study, MCM4 expression in GC was determined by using the ONCOMINE database. The prognostic values of MCM4 in GC patients was explore by using Kaplan-Meier plotter database. A network of MCM4 interactions with other molecules was predicated in STRING and GEPIA databases. Moreover, we explored the roles of MCM4 on GC progression. In the present study, we showed that MCM4 expression was significantly upregulated in GC tissues both in mRNA and protein levels. KM Plotter showed that high MCM4 expression was associated with poor overall survival (OS) in GC patients. STRING and GEPIA databases showed that 10 mRNAs might have an interaction with MCM4 in GC. In addition, our data showed that MCM4 expression was upregulated in GC tissues and high MCM4 expression was associated with advanced TNM stage and lymph node metastasis. In vitro function assays showed that decreased MCM4 expression significantly suppressed GC cells proliferation and arrested gastric cancer cells cycle in G0/G1 phase. Therefore, these data suggested that MCM4 could act an oncogene in GC progression, which might serve as a novel molecular target in GC therapy.