ZYX promotes invasion and metastasis of gastric cancer cells via WNK1/SNAI1axis

Gastric cancer(GC)is the third most common cause of cancer death globally and a large portion of patients are diagnosed at advanced stages with cancer invasion and metastasis1,2.However,the mechanisms underlying the invasion and metastasis of GC remain to be delineated.ZYX plays critical roles in cell mobility via cytoskeleton regulation in various cell types.3 In this study,we further reported that ZYX promoted migration,invasion,and metastasis of GC cells.Mechanistically,ZYX promoted WNK1 activation and SNAl1 up-regulation,inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)to enhance the mobility of GC cells.Inhibition of WNK1 impaired the mobility of GC cells.Therefore,ZYX/WNK1 could be potential therapeutic targets for GC treatment.