Abstract: Objective To analyze the expression level of recombinant ependymin-related protein 1 (EPDR1) in gastric cancer ( GC) and its relationship with the prognosis of GC patients,and to further explore the effect of EPDR1 on the invasive and migrative abilities of GC cells and itspotential mechanism. Methods The expression levels of EPDR1 in gastric cancer tissues and adjacent non-cancerous tissues from the GSE62254 dataset of the GEO database and TCGA-GTEx were analyzed, and their associations with clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of corresponding patients were investigated. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) was used to explore the signaling pathways that EPDR1 might regulate in GC. The effects of EPDR1 on the migration and invasion of GC cells and its potential mechanism were investigated by RT-qPCR, Western blotting, immunofluorescence, and Transwell assay. Results Bioinformatics analysis showed that EPDR1 was significantly overexpressed in both the primary and peritoneal metastases of GC, and its high expression was closely related to poor disease-free survival and overall survival of GC patients. GSEA analysis indicated that EPDR1 may participate in the occurrence and development of GC by activating theWnt / β-catenin signaling pathway. In vitro cell experiments showed that overexpression of EPDR1 enhanced the migrative and invasive abilities of GC cells, and activated the Wnt / β-catenin pathway topromote the up-regulation of CTNNB1 protein and endonuclear translocation. Conclusion EPDR1is highly expressed in GC, which is closely related to the invasion, migration, and poor prognosis of GC, and can be used as a prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target for GC.

Key words: