EP241/#853 High expression of trafficking protein transmembrane P24 trafficking protein9 promotes poor prognosis of epithelial ovarian cancer

Objectives

Transmembrane emp24 domain-containing protein9 (TMED9) belongs to the TMED/p24 family which regulates the innate immune and protein transport via the ER-Golgi cargo pathway. TMED9 role in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) has not been clarified yet. Therefore, in this study we aim to evaluate the function, molecular mechanism and clinicopathological significance of TMED9 in EOC.

Methods

Expression levels of functional role of TMED9 were respectively evaluated by Immunohistochemistry staining of EOC, borderline, benign and normal epithelial tissues, qPCR, western blotting, and public data sets. The functional roles of TMED9 were evaluated by MTS, colony formation, and transwell migration/invasion assays in EOC cell lines.

Results

TMED protein was elevated in EOCs according to a GEO and TCGA datasets. High mRNA and protein levels of TMED9 were observed in EOCs. Importantly, high expression level of TMED9 was associated poor overall survival and disease free survival compared with low expression of TMED0 in EOCs (p = 0.006, p < 0.001, respectively). In vitro results also demonstrated the knockdown of TMED9 was associated with decreased cell invasion (p < 0.001), migration (p < 0.001), proliferation (p < 0.001), and colony forming abilities (p < 0.001) supporting the oncogenic role in EOC.

Conclusions

Our study is the first work to identify an oncogenic role of TMEd9 in EOC tissues and cell lines which may provide insights into the application of TMED9 as a novel predictor of clinical outcome and a potential therapeutic target in EOC patients.