TRPC7 facilitates cell growth and migration by regulating intracellular Ca(2+) mobilization in lung adenocarcinoma cells

Transient receptor potential canonical 7 (TRPC7) has been reported to mediate aging-associated tumorigenesis, but the role of TRPC7 in cancer malignancy is still unclear. TRPC7 is associated with tumor size in patients with lung adenocarcinoma and the present study further evaluated the underlying mechanism of TRPC7 in the regulation of cancer progression. The clinicopathological role of TRPC7 was assessed using immunohistochemistry staining and the pathological mechanism of TRPC7 in lung adenocarcinoma cells was determined using cell cycle examination, invasion and calcium response assays, and immunoblot analysis. The results indicated that high TRPC7 expression was associated with a lower 5-year survival rate compared with low TRPC7 expression, which suggested that TRPC7 expression was inversely associated with overall survival in patients with lung adenocarcinoma. TRPC7 serves a pathological role by facilitating the enhancement of cell growth and migration with increased phosphorylation of Ca(2+)/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, AKT and ERK. TRPC7 knockdown in lung adenocarcinoma cells restrained cell cycle progression and cell migration by interrupting the TRPC7-mediated Ca(2+) signaling-dependent AKT and MAPK signaling pathways. These findings demonstrated for the first time a role of oncogenic TRPC7 in the regulation of cancer malignancy and could provide a novel therapeutic molecular target for patients with lung adenocarcinoma.