Overexpression of CTBP1 Promotes Cell Proliferation, Migration, Invasion, and Stemness in Endometrial Cancer

Abstract

Abstract Endometrial cancer (EC) is one of the most common cancers in the female reproductive system, exhibiting a continuous rise in incidence. This study investigated the role of C-terminal binding protein1 (CtBP1) in EC, our research found that CtBP1 was upregulated in endometrial cancer tissues and was associated with poor prognosis in patients. Decreasing CtBP1 levels inhibited cell proliferation, invasion, and migration while promoting apoptosis. Conversely, overexpressing CtBP1 produces contrary effects. In animal models, suppressing CtBP1 significantly impedes the tumorigenicity of EC cells. Furthermore, CtBP1 expression was found to be elevated in endometrial cancer stem cells (ECSCs), and its expression correlated positively with the strength of cancer stemness of EC. We also observed that CtBP1 did not affect TCF4 expression in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway but interacted with TCF-4 at the protein level. This study highlighted the significant role of CtBP1 in proliferation, migration, invasion of endometrial cancer, and maintenance of endometrial cancer stemness, potentially providing a new therapeutic target for the treatment of endometrial cancer.