Page 16 - D. Cancer biology

[D. Cancer biology-13]

Caveolin-1 supplies energy necessary for migration and

metastasis of gastric cancer cells

Nahee Hwang¹˙², Bo Kyung Yoon¹˙²˙, Jae-woo Kim¹˙²˙*

¹Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul 120-752, Korea,

²Brain Korea 21 Project for Medical Science, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-752, Korea

Gastric cancer (GC) is the third most fatal cancer in the world, which requires thorough understanding of the disease.

To conquer GC, finding new targets and appropriate therapeutic strategies are essential. Caveolin-1, a member of
the caveolin complex, has been studied in various cellular behaviors over the years. However, the functions of
caveolin-1 in GC have been controversial and still remained unclear. In this study, we found that high expression of

caveolin-1 correlates with poor prognosis of GC patients in Yonsei cohort and TCGA STAD. In addition, we selected
GC cell lines with EMT features based on transcriptomic analysis and characterized caveolin-1 as one of their

phenotypes. In aggressive GC cells, caveolin-1 has a pivotal role in migration. We confirmed that caveolin-1 was
localized at the tip of highly migratory cancer cell. Live imaging of cells indicates that the role of caveolin-1 is

thought to localize ATP at the tip of the cells, enabling efficient energy supply necessary for the movement in actin-
dependent manner. We suggest that understanding the roles of caveolin-1 in GC cells associated with their migration

would bring a new point of view in studies on cancer metabolism and ultimately in development of anti-cancer
drug targeting cancer metastasis.