Abstract
The oncoprotein MCT-1 (multiple copies in T-cell malignancy) was identified in a human lymphoma cell line and mapped to chromosome Xq22-24. MCT-1 gene encodes 181 amino acids with molecular mass of 20 kDa. MCT-1 plays an important role in regulating of cell proliferation, cell survival and protein translation. Base on recent studies, oncogenic MCT-1 promotes cell migration and tumorigenic ability, as well as induces a constellation of invasive and metastatic factors. I speculate that MCT-1 is involved in tumor metastatic function. Multiple lines of evidence show that MCT-1 is implicated in the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process. The data here demonstrate the up-regulation of E-cadherin and the down-regulation of vimentin proteins in A549 cell are closely associated with MCT-1 silencing. Knockdown of MCT-1 suppresses ZEB1 expression, but enhances E-cadherin gene expression. Moreover, loss of MCT-1 suppresses EMT phenotypes through EGFR signaling pathway. By using wound healing, trans-well and invasion assays, MCT-1 knockdown decreased cell migration and invasion. The mechanism and the potential anti-metastaticity by targeting MCT-1 will be further investigated.