Abstract
Osteosarcoma is one of the most common orthopedic malignancies and is characterized by rapid disease progression and a poor prognosis. Currently, research on methods to inhibit osteosarcoma proliferation is still limited. In this study, we found that MST4 levels were significantly increased in osteosarcoma cell lines and tumor tissues compared to normal controls and demonstrated that MST4 is an influential factor in promoting osteosarcoma proliferation both in vivo and in vitro. Proteomic analysis was performed on osteosarcoma cells in the MST4 overexpression and vector expression groups, and 545 significantly differentially expressed proteins were identified and quantified. The candidate differentially expressed protein MRC2 was then identified using parallel reaction monitoring validation. Subsequently, MRC2 expression was silenced with small interfering RNA (siRNA), and we were surprised to find that this alteration affected the cell cycle of MST4-overexpressing osteosarcoma cells, promoted apoptosis and impaired the positive regulation of osteosarcoma growth by MST4. In conclusion, this study identified a novel approach for suppressing osteosarcoma proliferation. Reduction of MRC2 activity inhibits osteosarcoma proliferation in patients with high MST4 expression by altering the cell cycle, which may be valuable for treating osteosarcoma and improving patient prognosis.