CapG promoted nasopharyngeal carcinoma cell motility involving Rho motility pathway independent of ROCK

BACKGROUND: Gelsolin-like capping actin protein (CapG) modulates actin dynamics and actin-based motility with a debatable role in tumorigenic progression. The motility-associated functions and potential molecular mechanisms of CapG in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) remain unclear. METHODS: CapG expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in a cohort of NPC tissue specimens and by Western blotting assay in a variety of NPC cell lines. Loss of function and gain of function of CapG in scratch wound-healing and transwell assays were performed. Inactivation of Rac1 and ROCK with the specific small molecular inhibitors was applied to evaluate CapG’s role in NPC cell motility. GTP-bound Rac1 and phosphorylated-myosin light chain 2 (p-MLC2) were measured in the ectopic CapG overexpressing cells. Finally, CapG-related gene set enrichment analysis was conducted to figure out the significant CapG-associated pathways in NPC. RESULTS: CapG disclosed increased level in the poorly differentiated NPC tissues and highly metastatic cells. Knockdown of CapG reduced NPC cell migration and invasion in vitro, while ectopic CapG overexpression showed the opposite effect. Ectopic overexpression of CapG compensated for the cell motility loss caused by simultaneous inactivation of ROCK and Rac1 or inactivation of ROCK alone. GTP-bound Rac1 weakened, and p-MLC2 increased in the CapG overexpressing cells. Bioinformatics analysis validated a positive correlation of CapG with Rho motility signaling, while Rac1 motility pathway showed no significant relationship. CONCLUSIONS: The present findings highlight the contribution of CapG to NPC cell motility independent of ROCK and Rac1. CapG promotes NPC cell motility at least partly through MLC2 phosphorylation and contradicts with Rac1 activation. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12957-022-02808-7.