NCAPG promotes the progression of lung adenocarcinoma via the TGF-β signaling pathway

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer has the highest case fatality rate among cancers because of uncontrolled proliferation and early metastasis of cancer cells in the lung tissue. This study aimed to clarify the role of the non-SMC condensin I complex, subunit G (NCAPG) in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), explore the mechanisms of its progression, and lay the foundation for the search for new biological markers. METHODS: We analyzed overlapping differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from three datasets; a protein–protein interaction (PPI) network was subsequently constructed and analyzed using Cytoscape. We then selected NCAPG for validation because of its poor prognosis and because it has not been sufficiently studied in the context of LUAD. Immunohistochemical analysis was used to detect the expression of NCAPG in LUAD tissues, and the relationships between NCAPG and clinical parameters were analyzed. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted to verify the role of NCAPG in LUAD. Finally, we studied the specific mechanism of action of NCAPG in LUAD. RESULTS: Through comprehensive analysis of the GSE43458, GSE75037, and The Cancer Genome Atlas databases, we identified 517 overlapping DEGs. Among them, NCAPG was identified as a hub gene. Immunohistochemical analysis revealed that NCAPG was strongly associated with the clinical stage, M-classification, and N-classification. Univariate and multivariate Cox regression analyses indicated that NCAPG was a prognostic risk factor for LUAD, while the in vitro experiments showed that NCAPG overexpression promoted proliferation, migration, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, knockdown of NCAPG inhibited LUAD progression, both in vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, NCAPG overexpression increased p-Smad2 and p-Smad3 expressions in the transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) signaling pathway. Additionally, rescue experiments indicated that TGF-β signaling pathway inhibitors could restore the effect of NCAPG overexpression in LUAD cells. CONCLUSIONS: NCAPG may promote proliferation and migration via the TGF-β signaling pathway in LUAD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-021-02138-w.