Activation of assembly factor for spindle microtubules triggers progression of renal cell carcinoma via Wnt3a pathway

Renal cell carcinoma, shorted as RCC is a well-known urological cancer with high level of morbidity and mortality. Although the regulatory role of the spindle microtubule assembly factor (ASPM) in tumor progression has been established, its relationship to the development of RCC remains unclear. To determine the significance of this gene in RCC, we examined its expression in RCC patients in the TCGA database and compared ASPM level between clinical samples of normal tissues and RCC tissues collected at our center. The prognostic relevance of ASPM was assessed by generating Kaplan-Meier survival curves and log-rank functions. Following alteration of ASPM expression using sh-ASPM or oe-ASPM transfection, RCC cell characteristics were evaluated through CCK-8, Transwell, and colony formation assays. Western blot analysis was conducted to measure levels of genes affected by ASPM, and rescue experiments were performed to explore the involvement of Wnt3a signaling in ASPM-mediated malignancy in RCC. Our findings indicate that ASPM is upregulated in RCC samples, and its levels are associated with the long-term survival of RCC patients. ASPM promotes the migration, proliferation, and invasiveness of RCC cells, and the Wnt3a pathway may be implicated in this process. In conclusion, these results indicate that ASPM contributes to the cancer progression of RCC by targeting the Wnt3a signaling pathway.