TRIM24 is upregulated in human gastric cancer and promotes gastric cancer cell growth and chemoresistance

The tripartite motif protein tripartite motif-containing 24 (TRIM24) is involved in human cancer progression. However, the expression pattern and biological roles of TRIM24 in human gastric cancer have not been studied. Here, we report that expression of TRIM24 protein was upregulated in 65 of 133 gastric cancer specimens. TRIM24 upregulation positively correlated with clinical stage, local invasion, and poor patient prognosis. We overexpressed TRIM24 by transfection in SGC-7901 cells and used an siRNA strategy to knock down TRIM24 in MKN-1 cells. MTT and colony formation assays showed that transfection of TRIM24 plasmid accelerated, while its depletion inhibited cell proliferation rate. TRIM24 overxpression also induced chemoresistance to 5-FU in gastric cancer cells. Further analysis showed that TRIM24 overexpression upregulated cyclin D1 and Akt phosphorylation. Akt inhibitor LY294002 reversed the role of TRIM24 on chemoresistance. In conclusion, our study shows that TRIM24 is overexpressed in human gastric cancer and accelerates cell growth as well as induce chemoresistance, possibly through the Akt pathway.