Down-regulation of c9orf86 in human breast cancer cells inhibits cell proliferation, invasion and tumor growth and correlates with survival of breast cancer patients.

C9orf86 which is a novel subfamily within the Ras superfamily of GTPases, is overexpressed in the majority of primary breast tumors. Few functional studies have focused on the C9orf86 protein; therefore, in this study, we explored the role of C9orf86 in breast carcinogenesis. In our study, we found that silencing of C9orf86 by siRNA in MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 cells resulted in suppressed cell proliferation as well as in vitro cell invasion capabilities. Moreover, knockdown of C9orf86 inhibited tumor growth in nude mice. Cell cycle and apoptotic assays showed that the anti-proliferative effect of C9orf86-siRNA was mediated by arresting cells in the G1 phase and promoting apoptosis. In addition, we found that patients with high levels of C9orf86 expression showed a significant trend towards worse survival compared to patients with low C9orf86 expression (P = 0.002). These results provide evidence that C9orf86 represents a novel and clinically useful biomarker for BC patients and plays an important role during the progression of BC.