The downregulation of choline kinase alpha inhibits clear cell renal cell carcinoma proliferation and metastasis via the MAPK and PI3K/AKT pathways

The abnormal expression of choline kinase alpha (CHKA) is associated with the development and progression of a variety of human malignancies. This study found that in patients with clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the overall survival of the CHKA high expression group was significantly shorter than the CHKA low expression group. The expression of CHKA in the ccRCC metastatic cell line was significantly higher than the expressions in the non-metastatic cell lines. The results of CCK-8, colony formation, Transwell and Matrigel assays showed that the knockdown of CHKA had a significant effect on the cell proliferation, migration and invasion of ccRCC. In addition, flow cytometry results showed that CHKA knockdown induced G0-G1 arrest and cell apoptosis. Mechanistic studies suggest that CHKA can promote the progression of ccRCC by altering the expression of Phospho-ERK, Phospho-AKT (Ser473), Cyclin D1, and caspase-3. Overall, our study suggests that CHKA contributes to the progression and metastasis of ccRCC and may serve as a new prognostic biomarker and potential therapeutic target.