SYT7 as a Potential Prognostic Marker Promotes the Metastasis of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer Cells by Activating the STAT3 Pathway

ABSTRACT The study aimed to investigate the impact of synaptotagmin 7 (SYT7) on the metastasis of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and its potential mechanisms. This was achieved through the analysis of SYT7 expression levels and clinical relevance in EOC using bioinformatics analysis from TCGA. Additionally, the study examined the influence of SYT7 on the migration and invasion of EOC cells, as well as explored its molecular mechanisms using in vitro EOC cell lines and in vivo mouse xenograft models. Our research revealed that human EOC tissues exhibit significantly elevated levels of SYT7 compared to normal ovarian tissues, and that SYT7 expression is inversely correlated with overall survival. Suppression of SYT7 effectively impeded the migratory and invasive capabilities of CAOV3 cells, whereas overexpression of SYT7 notably accelerated tumor progression in A2780 cells. Mechanistic investigations demonstrated that SYT7 upregulates p‐STAT3 and MMP2 in EOC cells. Importantly, treatment with the STAT3 inhibitor niclosamide effectively counteracted the oncogenic effects of SYT7 in EOC. The inhibition of SYT7 was found to significantly reduce in vivo tumor metastasis in a nude mouse xenograft model. Our findings suggest that the upregulation of SYT7 in EOC is associated with a negative prognosis, as it enhances tumor migration and invasion by activating the STAT3 signaling pathway. Thus, SYT7 might be utilized as a EOC prognostic marker and treatment target.