FOXQ1 promotes pancreatic cancer cell proliferation, tumor stemness, invasion and metastasis through regulation of LDHA-mediated aerobic glycolysis

Abstract Pancreatic cancer (PC), a gastrointestinal tract malignant tumor, has a poor prognosis due to early metastases and limited response to chemotherapy. Therefore, identifying novel therapeutic approaches for PC is critical. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was known as the vital progress in the PC development, we constructed the EMT-related prognosis model to screen out that FOXQ1 probably involving in the EMT regulation. FOXQ1 has been linked to the malignant process in a number of cancers. However, its function in PC is unknown. In our work, the expression of FOXQ1 was elevated in PC tissues, and high level of FOXQ1 in PC was linked to patients' poor prognosis. FOXQ1 overexpression promoted aerobic glycolysis and enhanced PC cell proliferation, tumor stemness, invasion and metastasis. Whereas, FOXQ1 silencing showed the reverse effect. Furthermore, mechanistic studies indicated that FOXQ1 promotes LDHA transcription, thus modulates aerobic glycolysis to enhance PC cell proliferation, tumor stemness, invasion, and metastasis by increasing LDHA expression. Therefore, these novel data suggest that FOXQ1 may be a possible therapeutic target in PC.