Background: The mechanism by which kinesin-like protein family 20A (KIF20A) influences prostate cancer progression remains unclear. This study aims to investigate the functional role of KIF20A in prostate cancer and its transcriptional regulatory mechanism via activation of activating transcription factor 2 (ATF2). Methods: Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), western blotting, and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were used to assess KIF20A expression in prostate cancer tissues. The chi-square tests was used to analysze the association between KIF20A expression and clinical-pathological features of prostate cancer. A stable KIF20A knockdown prostate cancer cell line was established. The effects of KIF20A expression levels on prostate cancer cell proliferation and invasion were investigated through plate cloning and cell invasion assays. JASPAR was used to predict ATF2 binding sites within the KIF20A promoter region, which were validated by chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and dual-luciferase reporter assays. Results: KIF20A expression was significantly elevated in prostate cancer tissue compared to their adjacent non-cancerous tissue controls. Furthermore, high KIF20A expression was significantly correlated with tumor grading and staging, as well as lymph node metastasis factors in prostate cancer patients. Knockdown of KIF20A significantly inhibited the proliferation and invasion of prostate cancer cells. ATF2 bound to the promoter region of the KIF20A gene, thereby promoting KIF20A transcription. Conclusions: Under the transcriptional regulation of ATF2, KIF20A expression is significantly upregulated in prostate cancer tissues, thereby promoting the progression of prostate cancer. KIF20A may serve as an independent prognostic factor influencing the prognosis of prostate cancer patients.
Yang et al. (2026) studied this question.