Overexpression of Rsf-1 correlates with poor survival and promotes invasion in non-small cell lung cancer

Rsf-1 (HBXAP) was recently reported to play roles in tumorigenesis and tumor progression. There have been many reports referred to Rsf-1 overexpression in various cancers and associated with the malignant behavior of cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanism of Rsf-1 in non-small cell lung cancer aggressiveness remains ambiguous. In the present study, we found that there was a significant association between Rsf-1 overexpression and poor overall survival (p = 0.028) in lung cancer. Furthermore, knockdown of Rsf-1 expression in H1299 and H460 cells with high endogenous Rsf-1 expression inhibited cell migration and invasion and downregulated MMP2 expression and nuclear levels of NF-κB. NF-κB inhibitor could also block the effect of Rsf-1 in regulation of MMP2 expression. Further experiments demonstrated that Rsf-1 depletion restrained NF-κB reporter luciferase activity and downregulated bcl-2 and p-IκB protein level. In conclusion, we demonstrated that Rsf-1 was overexpressed in lung cancer and associated with poor survival. Rsf-1 regulated cell invasion through MMP2 and NF-κB pathway.