Overexpression of NREP Promotes Migration and Invasion in Gastric Cancer Through Facilitating Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition

Abstract

The identification of biomarkers and effective therapeutic targets for gastric cancer (GC), the most common cause of cancer-related deaths around the world, is currently a major focus area in research. Here, we examined the utility of Neuronal Regeneration Related Protein (<i>NREP</i>) as a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for GC. We assessed the clinical relevance, function, and molecular role of <i>NREP</i> in GC using bioinformatics analysis and experimental validation. Our results showed that in GC, <i>NREP</i> overexpression was significantly associated with a poor prognosis. Our findings also suggested that <i>NREP</i> may be involved in the activation of cancer-associated fibroblasts and the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), with transforming growth factor β1 mediating both processes. In addition, <i>NREP</i> expression showed a positive correlation with the abundance of M2 macrophages, which are potent immunosuppressors. Together, these results indicate that <i>NREP</i> is overexpressed in GC and affects GC prognosis. Thus, <i>NREP</i> could be a prognostic biomarker and therapeutic target for GC.