Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Cervical cancer, one of the most common malignant gynecological tumors, is a significant burden on the health of females worldwide. The purpose of this study was to investigate genes associated with lymph node metastasis in cervical cancer. METHODS: We report on the lymph node metastasis-associated gene, small cell adhesion glycoprotein (SMAGP), as a key regulator of cervical cancer development and progression. SMAGP expression levels were investigated in 70 cervical squamous cell carcinoma samples and 10 normal cervical squamous epithelium samples. RESULTS: Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that SMAGP protein levels were significantly elevated in cervical cancer tissue compared with normal cervical squamous epithelium. Silencing of SMAGP induced cell cycle arrest, inhibited the cell proliferation and colony formation ability of cervical cancer cells in vitro and suppressed their tumorigenic potential in nude mice. In addition, SMAGP knockdown reduced expression of epithelial mesenchymal transition-related proteins, including vimentin, β-cadherin, MMP2, and Twist. CONCLUSION: Together, our findings demonstrate that SMAGP plays a critical role in cell proliferation and tumorigenesis and could be a new therapeutic target in cervical cancer.