MFAP2 is overexpressed in gastric cancer and promotes motility via the MFAP2/integrin α5β1/FAK/ERK pathway.

Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common malignancies and its prognosis is extremely poor. This study identifies a novel oncogene, microfibrillar-associated protein 2 (MFAP2) in GC. With integrative reanalysis of transcriptomic data, we found MFAP2 as a GC prognosis-related gene. And the aberrant expression of MFAP2 was explored in GC samples. Subsequent experiments indicated that silencing and exogenous MFAP2 could affect motility of cancer cells. The inhibition of silencing MFAP2 could be rescued by another FAK activator, fibronectin. This process is probably through affecting the activation of focal adhesion process via modulating ITGB1 and ITGA5. MFAP2 regulated integrin expression through ERK1/2 activation. Silencing MFAP2 by shRNA inhibited tumorigenicity and metastasis in nude mice. We also revealed that MFAP2 is a novel target of microRNA-29, and miR-29/MFAP2/integrin α5β1/FAK/ERK1/2 could be an important oncogenic pathway in GC progression. In conclusion, our data identified MFAP2 as a novel oncogene in GC and revealed that miR-29/MFAP2/integrin α5β1/FAK/ERK1/2 could be an important oncogenic pathway in GC progression.