DDX51 gene promotes proliferation by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling in breast cancer.

Breast cancer was a malignant tumor seriously threatening the life of women in the world. But the prognosis of breast cancer patients was not so satisfactory due to the limited effective therapeutics. The heterogeneity decided that more than one gene or one signaling pathway was responsible for the initiation or progression of breast cancer. DDX51 gene was a member of RNA helicases family in charge of regulation of RNA metabolism. And DDX51 gene was shown to promote proliferation in NSCLC. But we firstly reported the abundant expression of DDX51 gene in both the breast cancer tissues and cell lines in this study. And DDX51 expression was shown to be associated with TNM stage and prognosis in breast cancer patients. When DDX51 was successfully knocked down, either proliferation or DNA synthesis of MCF-7 cells was inhibited. But the ability of migration and invasion of MCF-7 cells was not affected by DDX51 gene. Furthermore, DDX51 knockdown was accompanied by inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling because expression of critical members such as β-catenin, cyclin D1, TCF/LEF, and DKK1 were all affected. Therefore, this study proved that DDX51 gene promoted proliferation in MCF-7 cells by regulating Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway and showed clinical significance in breast cancer. This study provides us a new promising hope for treatment of patients with breast cancer.