High expression of NPM1 via the Wnt/β-catenin signalling pathway might predict poor prognosis for patients with prostate adenocarcinoma

Prostate adenocarcinoma (PRAD) occurs only in males and has a higher incidence rate than other cancers. NPM1 is a nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein that participates in the development of multiple tumours. The aim of this research was to explore the effect of the upregulation or downregulation of the NPM1 protein on the malignancy of prostate cancer and its possible signalling pathway. Prostate adenocarcinoma cell lines were used in this study, including RWPE-1, PC3, LNCap, and 22RV1 cells. Our research revealed that NPM1 was widely expressed in the PRAD cell lines, as determined by western blotting, and that the levels of NPM1 protein were positively correlated with the degree of malignancy of the PRAD cell lines. Through interference and overexpression experiments, we found that PC3 cell growth was inhibited after NPM1 knockdown and that this inhibition was partly reversed by CTNNB1 overexpression; in contrast, PC3 cells growth was promoted after NPM1 overexpression, and this promotion was partly reversed by CTNNB1 knockdown, suggesting that NPM1 and CTNNB1 play important roles in the progression of prostate cancer cells via the Wnt/beta-catenin signalling pathway. NPM1 may serve as an important biomarker and candidate therapeutic for patients with prostate cancer.