VGLL4 inhibits EMT in part through suppressing Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway in gastric cancer

VGLL4 is a member of the Vestigial-like proteins that functions as a tumor suppressor, which directly competes with YAP for binding TEADs in several cancer types. Recently, an increasing number of studies have reported that VGLL4 acts as a crucial role in regulating cell mobility, migration, and invasion. However, little is known about the signaling mechanisms in regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) of gastric cancer. In our study, we confirmed that the expression level of VGLL4 was down-regulated in gastric cancer tissues, and reduced VGLL4 expression levels inhibited apoptosis and promoted proliferation, migration, and invasion. Additionally, we found a phenomenon that VGLL4 was associated with the change in nuclear location of β-catenin, which suggested that β-catenin was a significant downstream factor of VGLL4. These results suggest that VGLL4 suppressed EMT in part via negative regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Taken together, our study demonstrated that VGLL4 is important in the process of suppressing tumor progression of gastric cancer and provided a potential therapeutic strategy for gastric cancer.