Abstract
Gastric cancer (GC) is among the most aggressive types of cancer and is the second leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. The specific role of deregulated expression/activity of histone methyltransferases (HMTs) in GC is poorly understood. The present study aimed to explore the possible oncogenic role of euchromatic histone lysine methyltransferase 1 (EHMT1) in gastric carcinogenesis. It was identified that EHMT1 was highly expressed in GC tissues compared with that in adjacent non-tumor tissues, and that EHMT1 expression levels were significantly associated with tumor stage and lymph node metastasis. Through knockdown of EHMT1 in the BGC-803 cell line, EHMT1 was demonstrated to promote a malignant phenotype, and to increase the wound healing, migration and invasion abilities of GC cells. Corresponding to these in vitro results, knockdown of EHMT1 also inhibited the peritoneal metastasis of GC cells in vivo. Furthermore, EHMT1 also regulated the expression of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition marker E-cadherin in vitro and in vivo. These results indicate that EHMT1 is upregulated in GC and serves an oncogenic role in GC development by regulating E-cadherin expression.