Reduced emerin expression marks gastric cancer progression and invasive nuclear remodeling
- 1Cooper Medical School of Rowan University
Abstract
Altered nuclear morphology is a defining diagnostic feature of malignancy, and nuclear structure is increasingly recognized as a functional regulator of cancer cell invasion. The inner nuclear membrane protein emerin maintains nuclear architecture and restrains invasive phenotypes in breast cancer models, but whether emerin expression is similarly altered in gastric cancer has not been established. Here, we analyzed emerin protein expression, nuclear morphology, and impeded migration in nonmalignant and malignant gastric cell lines. In parallel, emerin protein expression and nuclear envelope localization across gastric cancer was determined using patient tissue microarrays. Emerin was abundant at the nuclear envelope in cancer-adjacent and noncancerous gastric epithelium but was reduced across multiple gastric cancer histologies, including adenocarcinoma, signet-ring cell carcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and metastatic lesions. Reduced emerin at the nuclear envelope was most strongly associated with higher-grade tumors, with grade 2 and grade 3 cancers exhibiting significantly lower nuclear envelope scores than noncancerous tissue and grade 1 tumors. Consistent with the patient tissue data, the gastric cancer cell lines AGS and MKN1 expressed less emerin protein than noncancerous gastric epithelial control cells HFE-145. Consistent with studies in breast cancer cells, gastric cells with reduced emerin expression also had smaller nuclei and increased impeded migration through 8 micron pores. These findings support a model in which reduced nuclear envelope emerin is a conserved feature of invasive epithelial tumor progression and a candidate biomarker of gastric cancer nuclear remodeling.
Related
- Histopathological Remodeling and Reduced Hypoxia-Related Marker Expression Following Marsupialization of Ameloblastoma: A Paired Analysis
- COL1A2 expression is associated with prognosis, stromal remodeling, and predicted immunotherapy response in gastric cancer
- Endoscopic ultrasound-guided left gastric vein embolization: a novel minimally invasive approach for gastroesophageal varices-1.
- Artificial intelligence-based tongue image analysis for non-invasive screening of gastric cancer, precancerous lesions, and related gastrointestinal disorders: a systematic review
- From inflammation to carcinogenesis: MiRNA regulates epithelial-mesenchymal transition to facilitate malignant progression of gastric precancerous lesions
BibTeX
@misc{hansen2026reduced,
title = {{Reduced emerin expression marks gastric cancer progression and invasive nuclear remodeling}},
author = {E. Hansen and B. Liu and J. M. Holaska},
howpublished = {bioRxiv},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.64898/2026.10.09.757948},
url = {https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.09.757948v1},
note = {CC BY-NC},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Reduced emerin expression marks gastric cancer progression and invasive nuclear remodeling
AU - E. Hansen
AU - B. Liu
AU - J. M. Holaska
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
PB - bioRxiv
DO - 10.64898/2026.10.09.757948
UR - https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.09.757948v1
AB - Altered nuclear morphology is a defining diagnostic feature of malignancy, and nuclear structure is increasingly recognized as a functional regulator of cancer cell invasion. The inner nuclear membrane protein emerin maintains nuclear architecture and restrains invasive phenotypes in breast cancer models, but whether emerin expression is similarly altered in gastric cancer has not been established. Here, we analyzed emerin protein expression, nuclear morphology, and impeded migration in nonmalignant and malignant gastric cell lines. In parallel, emerin protein expression and nuclear envelope localization across gastric cancer was determined using patient tissue microarrays. Emerin was abundant at the nuclear envelope in cancer-adjacent and noncancerous gastric epithelium but was reduced across multiple gastric cancer histologies, including adenocarcinoma, signet-ring cell carcinoma, mucinous adenocarcinoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and metastatic lesions. Reduced emerin at the nuclear envelope was most strongly associated with higher-grade tumors, with grade 2 and grade 3 cancers exhibiting significantly lower nuclear envelope scores than noncancerous tissue and grade 1 tumors. Consistent with the patient tissue data, the gastric cancer cell lines AGS and MKN1 expressed less emerin protein than noncancerous gastric epithelial control cells HFE-145. Consistent with studies in breast cancer cells, gastric cells with reduced emerin expression also had smaller nuclei and increased impeded migration through 8 micron pores. These findings support a model in which reduced nuclear envelope emerin is a conserved feature of invasive epithelial tumor progression and a candidate biomarker of gastric cancer nuclear remodeling.
ER -