HMGA1 promoting gastric cancer oncogenic and glycolytic phenotypes by regulating c-myc expression

The high mobility group A1 (HMGA1) protein, an architectural transcription factor, is profoundly implicated in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple malignant tumors. Reprogrammed energy metabolism is a hallmark of diverse types of cancer cells. However, little is known about the regulatory role of HMGA1 in aerobic glycolysis. In this study, we found that HMGA1 was highly expressed in many types of human cancers including gastric cancer and predicted a poor prognosis. However, high HMGA1 expression was not correlated with TNM stages. Gene set enrichment analysis result suggested a link between HMGA1 expression and glycolytic phenotype in gastric cancer. Genetic silencing of HMGA1 significantly inhibited gastric cancer glycolytic activity as revealed by reduced glucose uptake, lactate release, and extracellular acidification ratio. In addition, cell proliferation and invasive capacity of gastric cancer cells were also suppressed by HMGA1 knockdown. Mechanistically, the key glycolysis regulator c-Myc was identified as a downstream target of HMGA1. In gastric cancer patients, HMGA1 and c-Myc expression were closely associated with the glycolysis gene signature. Taken together, our findings identify a novel function of HMGA1 in regulating aerobic glycolysis in gastric cancer. •Highly expressed HMGA1 predicts a poor prognosis in gastric cancer.•HMGA1 expression correlates tumor glycolysis in gastric cancer.•Knockdown of HMGA1 inhibits gastric cancer cell glycolysis, proliferation, and invasion.•HMGA1 regulates c-Myc expression in gastric cancer.