Metadherin Promotes the Development of Bladder Cancer by Enhancing Cell Division.

Background: Bladder cancer (BLCA) is a malignant tumor occurring in bladder mucosa. Metadherin (MTDH) has been implicated in tumor progression; however, its molecular biological mechanisms in BLCA remain unclear. Materials and Methods: Cell functions were tested after BLCA cells were transfected by both short hairpin RNAs and small interfering RNAs to silence MTDH. Furthermore, in-house RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) was performed with T24 cells after the knockdown of MTDH. In addition, MTDH-related pathways were explored. Finally, MTDH mRNA and protein expression levels were examined using multiple detection methods in BLCA tissues. Results: MTDH knockdown could largely inhibit cell proliferation, viability, and migration and induce apoptosis of BLCA cells. In-house RNA-seq showed that MTDH knockdown led to extracellular matrix organization and cell division. The integrated analysis showed that the comprehensive expression of MTDH at the mRNA level was 0.47 and that at the protein level was 0.54, based on 11 platforms, including 1485 BLCA and 180 non-BLCA samples. Conclusions: MTDH promotes the growth of BLCA cells through the pathway of cell division. This study provides new directions and biomarkers for future treatment.