Role of P2X7 receptor in the progression and clinicopathological characteristics of gastric cancer.

P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) plays a role in regulating tumor progression, but it is unclear whether P2X7R affects the pathological characteristics of patients with gastric cancer and the activity of gastric cancer cells. Therefore, this study preliminarily investigated the relationship between P2X7R and clinicopathological features of patients with gastric cancer, and further explored the effect of P2X7R on the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells through functional experiments. The results showed that P2X7R was highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues and gastric cancer cells. High expression of P2X7R was closely related to lymphatic metastasis, vascular invasion and Tumor-Node-Metastasis (TNM) stage in patients with gastric cancer. High expression of P2X7R predicted poor overall survival in patients. Moreover, the activation of P2X7R by ATP and its analogue BzATP increased the calcium current of gastric cancer cells, enhanced YF actin stress and cell viability, and promoted the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells. While P2X7R antagonists (A438079 and AZD9056) inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of gastric cancer cells induced by ATP. Therefore, the data obtained in this experiment suggest that P2X7R may be another potential molecular target for the prevention and treatment of gastric cancer.