NUSAP1 promotes invasion and metastasis of prostate cancer

// Catherine A. Gordon 1 , Xue Gong 1, 2 , Durga Ganesh 1 , James D. Brooks 1, 3 1 Department of Urology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA 2 Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA 3 Stanford Cancer Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA Correspondence to: James D. Brooks, email: jdbrooks@stanford.edu Keywords: NUSAP1, invasion, migration, metastasis, prostate cancer Received: September 18, 2016     Accepted: January 25, 2017     Published: February 22, 2017 ABSTRACT We have previously identified nucleolar and spindle associated protein 1 ( NUSAP1 ) as a prognostic biomarker in early stage prostate cancer. To better understand the role of NUSAP1 in prostate cancer progression, we tested the effects of increased and decreased NUSAP1 expression in cell lines, in vivo models, and patient samples. NUSAP1 promotes invasion, migration, and metastasis, possibly by modulating family with sequence similarity 101 member B ( FAM101B ), a transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGFβ1) signaling effector involved in the epithelial to mesenchymal transition. Our findings provide insights into the importance of NUSAP1 in prostate cancer progression and provide a rationale for further study of NUSAP1 function, regulation, and clinical utility.