GOLPH3 is a potential therapeutic target and a prognostic indicatior of poor survival in bladder cancer treated by cystectomy

Golgi phosphoprotein 3 (GOLPH3) has been reported to be involved in the development of several human cancers. However, its clinical significance and biological role in bladder cancer remains unclear. In this study, we sought to analyze the GOLPH3 expression in bladder cancer samples and cells, and explore its clinical significance and biological role. We found that GOLPH3 was significantly increased in bladder cancer tissues and cells. Overexpression of GOLPH3 had significant correlation with poorer survival for bladder cancer patients treated by cystectomy. Knockdown of GOLPH3 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion of cancer cells, and tumor growth in a xenograft mouse model. GOLPH3 silencing inhibited AKT/m-TOR signaling, increased the cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) inhibitor p27 and decreased the CDK regulator cyclin D1 and matrix metallopeptidase 9 (MMP9). Thus, GOLPH3 is likely to play important roles in bladder cancer progression via modulating AKT/mTOR signaling, and it is a novel prognostic biomarker and promising therapeutic target for bladder cancer.