Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Rhotekin 2 promotes progression of endometrial carcinoma by activating Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway

Ting Hu¹, Min Wang¹, Jing Zeng¹, Xiaoli Wang¹, Hangzhi Gu²

¹Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Chengdu Second People's Hospital, Chengdu, Sichuan Province 610017; ²Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province 325000, China.

For correspondence:- Hangzhi Gu Email: guhangzhi2021@163.com Tel:+8657788069303

Accepted: 28 April 2021 Published: 30 May 2021

Citation: Hu T, Wang M, Zeng J, Wang X, Gu H. Rhotekin 2 promotes progression of endometrial carcinoma by activating Akt/GSK3β signaling pathway. Trop J Pharm Res 2021; 20(5):917-924 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v20i5.5

© 2021 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the expression of rhotekin 2 (RTKN2) in human endometrial carcinoma tissues and its role in cancer progression.

Methods: Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and immunoblot assays were performed to determine the expression of RTKN2 in endometrial carcinoma tissues and cells. The effects of RTKN2 on cell proliferation were assessed using cell counting kit-8 and EdU assays, while its effects on cell cycle and apoptosis in endometrial carcinoma cells were evaluated by flow cytometry. The involvement of RTKN2 in activating Akt/glycogen synthase kinase-3 beta (GSK3β) pathway was characterized using an immunoblot assay. Tumor growth assays were performed to assess the effects of RTKN2 on the progression of endometrial carcinoma in vivo, while protein expression in tumor tissues was determined by an immunohistochemical assay.

Results: High expression of RTKN2 was found in human endometrial carcinoma tissues and cell lines (p < 0.05). RTKN2 promoted the proliferation and cell cycle of endometrial carcinoma cells in vitro and suppressed apoptosis (p < 0.05). RTKN2 also activated Akt/GSK3β pathway in endometrial carcinoma cells and thus promoted tumor growth in vivo.

Conclusion: The involvement of RTKN2 in the progression of endometrial carcinoma has been confirmed in this study. RTKN2 is thus a promising therapeutic target for patients with this disease

Keywords: Rhotekin 2 (RTKN2), Endometrial carcinoma, Proliferation, Apoptosis, Akt/GSK3β