SPP1 facilitates cell migration and invasion by targeting COL11A1 in lung adenocarcinoma

BACKGROUND: Secreted phosphoprotein 1 (SPP1), an extracellular secreted glycol phosphoprotein, is closely related to tumor biologies, such as proliferation, migration, and invasion. However, the role and biological function of SPP1 in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD) was still ambiguous. METHODS: SPP1 expression in LUAD tissues and its associations with clinical features and prognosis was investigated using meta-analysis, immunohistochemistry (IHC) staining methods, and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Moreover, the potential mechanism related to SPP1 was identified by using the Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) method. A series of function assays were conducted to determine the biological role of SPP1 in LUAD cell migration and invasion in vitro and vivo. The co-expressed genes of SPP1 were obtained and verified by western blot assays. The influence of SPP1 on Collagen type XI alpha 1 (COL11A1) expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) markers was analyzed using western blot assays. RESULTS: The expression of SPP1 in LUAD tissues and cells was significantly higher than that in normal tissues and cells. And positively associations of SPP1 expression with TNM stage, lymph node metastasis, and invasion depth were observed. Patients with high SPP1 expression had unfavorable survival. The multivariable Cox regression analysis revealed that SPP1 expression was an independent prognostic factor of LUAD patients. Furthermore, downregulation of SPP1 could inhibit cell migration and invasion both in vitro and vivo, reduce the expression of epithelial marker (E-cadherin), and increase the expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin and vimentin). Using bioinformatics and western blot assays, we confirmed that COL11A1 acted as the downstream of SPP1, and SPP1 knockdown could significantly downregulate the COL11A1 expression. Importantly, suppression of cell migration and invasion and the expression changes of EMT markers induced by SPP1 downregulation could be reversed by COL11A1 overexpression. CONCLUSIONS: SPP1 facilitates cell migration and invasion by upregulating COL11A1 expression and that acts as a potential biomarker of metastasis and prognosis for LUAD. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12935-022-02749-x.