SKA3 overexpression promotes cell proliferation and migration in breast cancer cell lines

Abstract

Objectives: Breast cancer (BC) is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in women worldwide with a high mortality rate, despite early detection and treatment. Spindle and kinetochore-associated complex subunit 3 (SKA3) is closely correlated with patient outcomes in several cancers. The present study aimed to elucidate the role of SKA3 in BC. Methods: The biological functions of SKA3 was investigated by proliferation and migration assays in MDA-MB-231 cells with stable SKA3 knockdown and Hs578T cells ectopically expressing SKA3. Gene Expression Omnibus datasets were utilised to determine the correlation between SKA3 expression and clinical features of BC patients. Results: We confirmed that SKA3 mRNA expression is higher in breast tumour tissue than in normal tissue, and that higher SKA3 expression is associated with poor survival rate of BC patients. Knockdown of SKA3 reduced MDA-MB-231 cell proliferation and migration, whereas SKA3 overexpression enhanced the proliferative and migratory ability of Hs578T cells. We also found that SKA3 is involved in regulating cell cycle progression in mitotic exit. Conclusions: These results suggest that SKA3 is correlated with BC cell proliferation and migration by promoting cell cycle progression, and could be a novel potential therapeutic target for BC treatment.