Mist1 inhibits epithelial-mesenchymal transition in gastric adenocarcinoma via downregulating the Wnt/â-catenin pathway

As a secretory cell transcription factor, muscle intestine stomach expression 1 (Mist1) is associated with serous secretory cell development and gastric chief cell maturation. Here, we focus on the function of Mist1 in gastric adenocarcinoma carcinogenesis. Based on clinical data and a mouse model of gastric cancer, we found that Mist1 expression was reduced in gastric cancer. Then, we overexpressed Mist1 using a lentivirus system and found that overexpression of Mist1 could inhibit gastric cancer cell proliferation, migration and invasion in vitro. Additionally, in vivo, we assessed the function of Mist1 in a gastric cancer xenograft model and distant pulmonary metastasis model. Overexpression of Mist1 decreased tumour growth and distant metastasis in vivo, suggesting that Mist1 acts as a tumour suppressor in gastric carcinogenesis. Furthermore, Mist1 overexpression inhibited epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in gastric cancer by suppressing catenin transcription activity and then the Wingless and INT-1 (Wnt)/catenin signalling pathway, which could be reversed by a Wnt/catenin-specific agonist. In conclusion, this study indicated that overexpression of Mist1 could reverse EMT in gastric carcinogenesis by inhibiting the Wnt/catenin signalling pathway and that Mist1 might be a novel marker for early gastric cancer screening.