MX1 promotes gastric cancer cell migration via inhibiting ANXA2 ubiquitination and degradation.

Abstract

Gastric cancer (GC) is a globally lethal malignancy, with invasion and metastasis driving treatment failure and poor prognosis. MX dynamin like GTPase 1 (MX1) shows tumor-specific functional heterogeneity, while its expression, biological functions and molecular mechanisms in GC remain unclear. Here, we explored MX1's clinical significance and its regulatory mechanism in GC cell migration. We integrated public databases and institutional paired clinical samples for bioinformatics analysis of MX1's correlation with clinical outcomes, and verified its pro-migratory effect via Transwell and wound healing assays. Co-immunoprecipitation/mass spectrometry (Co-IP/MS), immunofluorescence and ubiquitination assays were used to identify MX1-interacting proteins and dissect the underlying mechanism, and the Genomics of Drug Sensitivity in Cancer database was applied for chemosensitivity analysis. MX1 was aberrantly upregulated in GC tissues and served as an independent prognostic biomarker, with high expression associated with shortened overall, first-progression and post-progression survival. MX1 promoted GC cell migration and epithelial-mesenchymal transition pathway enrichment, and directly bound Annexin A2 (ANXA2) in the cytoplasm; both were co-enriched in endothelial and epithelial cells by single-cell sequencing. MX1 dose-dependently upregulated ANXA2 protein (without affecting its mRNA) by inhibiting NEDD4L/TRIM65-mediated ANXA2 ubiquitination and degradation, enhancing ANXA2 stability. Additionally, high MX1 expression correlated with increased paclitaxel sensitivity in GC patients based on database analysis, and CCK-8 assays confirmed that MX1 overexpression significantly reduced the paclitaxel IC50 in gastric cancer cells, supporting its potential as a predictive biomarker for paclitaxel efficacy. This study demonstrates that MX1 promotes GC cell migration by suppressing ANXA2 ubiquitination and degradation, highlighting the critical role of the MX1-ANXA2 axis in GC progression. These findings provide novel molecular targets and theoretical support for GC prognostic evaluation, individualized chemotherapy and targeted therapy.