ZNF471 inhibits nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell growth and stemness.

Abstract

We investigated how zinc finger protein 471 (ZNF471) affects nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cell growth, migration, invasion and stemness and offer possible treatment targets for NPC research. The GEO2R online dataset was used to query the expression of ZNF471 in NPC tissues. ZNF471 overexpression plasmid was transfected into NPC cell lines. Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK8) was used to detect cell viability, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (Edu) to detect cell proliferation, Wound Healing Assay to detect cell migration, Transwell Assay to detect cell invasion, and Spheroid Formation Assay to detect the stemness characteristics of NPC cells. Western blot assay was used to determine the downstream genes matrix metalloproteinase 7 (MMP-7) and Myelocytomatosis viral oncogene homolog (c-Myc), as well as the protein expression of β-catenin, a protein linked to the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Overexpression of ZNF471 significantly inhibited NPC cell viability, reduced the number of Edu-positive cells, migration rate, cell invasion number, and tumor cell spheroid formation number. Besides, overexpression of ZNF471 reduced the protein expression of β-catenin and the downstream genes c-Myc and MMP-7. In conclusion, ZNF471 inhibits the growth, migration, invasion and stemness of NPC cells, which may be related to its inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin pathway activation.