LAMP3 plays an oncogenic role in osteosarcoma cells partially by inhibiting TP53

BACKGROUND: Osteosarcoma (OS) is a common malignant tumor that predominantly occurs in adolescents. Its most common metastasis is to the lungs. As shown in our earlier study, lysosome-associated membrane glycoprotein 3 (LAMP3) is highly upregulated in metastatic OS. However, its role in the regulation of OS cell viability and apoptosis remains unknown. METHODS: We knocked down and overexpressed LAMP3 in OS cells and assessed the cell viability and apoptosis. Then, we investigated the expression of apoptosis-associated genes to identify the downstream gene(s) of LAMP3. RESULTS: Knockdown of LAMP3 significantly inhibited OS cell viability and promoted apoptosis. TP53, which is involved in the apoptosis pathway, was found to be highly upregulated after knockdown of LAMP3. Overexpression of LAMP3 significantly increased cell viability and abrogated apoptosis. Importantly, subsequent knockdown of TP53 partially suppressed the increased OS cell apoptosis induced by the inhibition of LAMP3, suggesting that TP53 is a key functional downstream gene of LAMP3. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that LAMP3 promotes OS cell viability and survival by regulating TP53 expression. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s11658-018-0099-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.