Gankyrin drives malignant transformation of gastric cancer and alleviates oxidative stress via mTORC1 activation

Abstract

Gastric cancer, as a malignant epithelial tumor, is a major health threat leading to poor overall survival and death. It is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage due to asymptomatic or only nonspecific early symptoms. The present study demonstrated that gankyrin contributes to the early malignant transformation of gastric cancer and can be selected to predict the risk of gastric cancer in those patients harboring the precancerous lesions (dysplasia and intestinal metaplasia). In addition, a new insight into gastric cancer was provided, which stated that gankyrin alleviates oxidative stress via mTORC1 pathway activation. It can potentiate the mTORC1 by PGK1-AKT signaling that promotes the tumor process, and this phenomenon is not completely consistent with the previous report describing colorectal cancer.