Overexpression of AKIP1 predicts poor prognosis of patients with breast carcinoma and promotes cancer metastasis through Akt/GSK-3β/Snail pathway.

Recent evidence has demonstrated that A kinase interacting protein 1 (AKIP1), a molecular regulator of protein kinase A, was overexpressed in breast cancer. However, the prognostic and biological role of AKIP1 in breast cancer is still elusive. The purpose of our study was to elucidate the role and molecular mechanism of AKIP1 in breast cancer development. The mRNA levels of AKIP1 in breast cancer and paired normal breast tissues were examined by quantitative real-time PCR. The relationship of AKIP1 expression with clinicopathological characteristics and clinical prognosis of breast cancer patients was investigated. In vitro migration and invasion assays were performed in MCF-7 and SK-BR-3 cells to determine its role in metastasis and the possible mechanism. The result showed that AKIP1 expression was up-regulated in breast cancer tissues compared with that in normal breast tissues. High expression of AKIP1 was associated significantly with advanced tumor stage (P<0.001), tumor size (P=0.029), and lymph node metastasis (P=0.004). Moreover, overexpression of AKIP1 was significantly correlated with poor overall survival and recurrence-free survival (P=0.038 and P=0.005, respectively). Furthermore, down-regulation of AKIP1 remarkably inhibited breast cancer cell motility and invasion through inhibiting the Akt/GSK-3β/Snail pathway. Therefore, AKIP1 may represent a prospective prognostic indicator and a potential therapeutic target of breast cancer.