ITGBL1 promotes gastric cancer cell proliferation and invasion via Akt signal pathway

Integrin beta- like 1 (ITGBL1), an extracellular matrix protein, plays an oncogenic role in diverse forms of cancers. To this end, we examined the importance of ITGBL1 in gastric cancer (GC). The upregulated expression of ITGBL1 in GC was associated with a poor prognosis. Moreover, upregulation of ITGBL1 enhanced cell mobility while silencing it exerted an opposite effect. Up-regulation of ITGBL1 significantly promoted phosphorylation of Akt, decreased the ratio of phosphorylated Akt in AGS/ITGBL1-shRNA and N87/ITGBL1-shRNA cells, enhanced cell mobility and proliferation. Silencing ITGBL1 had an opposite effect on Akt phosphorylation, cell mobility, and proliferation. These findings show that ITGBL1 regulates mobility and proliferation of GC likely through activation of Akt signaling.