miR-181-5p/KLHL5 Promoted Proliferation and Migration of Gastric Cancer Through Activating METTL3-Mediated m6A Process

KLHL5 was a member of kelch-repeat protein family and was involved in the initiation of progression of a plethora of cancers. However, its specific role in gastric cancer was not explicitly illustrated. In this context, we aimed to investigate the biological role and mechanisms about KLHL5 in gastric cancer. qRT-PCR and western blot were used to investigate the expression of KLHL5 and EMT biomarkers. Wound healing assay, CCK-8, and Transwell assay were used to investigate the biological function of KLHL5. We found that KLHL5 was highly expressed in gastric cancer both in vivo and in vitro; besides, its high expression led to a shorter overall survival. Following statistical analysis showed that KLHL5 was associated with M stage. As for molecular experiments, we found that KLHL5 knockdown significantly reduced the proliferation, migration, and invasion ability of gastric cancer cell line MKN45 and SGC-7901. Furthermore, we found that miR-181-5p targeted KLHL5 to regulate m6A level through METTL3. In addition, KLHL5 knockdown could significantly reduce the lung metastasis rate in mice. In conclusion, we found that miR-181-5p/KLHL5 could promote the proliferation, migration, and invasion of gastric cancer by activating m6A process through regulating METTL3.