Ceramide synthase 6 predicts the prognosis of human gastric cancer: It functions as an oncoprotein by dysregulating the SOCS2/JAK2/STAT3 pathway

Although gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most common cancers, knowledge of its development, and carcinogenesis is limited. The present study explored the involvement of ceramide synthase 6 (CERS6) in GC carcinogenesis and prognosis. RT-PCR, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry were used to examine the expression of CERS6. Transfection and small hairpin RNA technology were used to investigate the effect of CERS6 manipulation on cell proliferation and spread as well as the underlying mechanism. Moreover, xenograft proliferation was employed to explore the influence of CERS6 on tumor growth in animals. It was found that overexpression of CERS6 was significantly correlated with several clinicopathologic parameters and poor disease-free survival. The overexpression and silencing of CERS6 in GC cells facilitated and suppressed cell proliferation and spread as well as xenograft proliferation, respectively. Mechanistic studies further revealed that CERS6 influenced cell proliferation and spread by regulating cell cycle control and metastasis-related protein through the SOCS2/JAK2/STAT3 signaling pathway. Collectively, this study suggests that CERS6 overexpression could be a useful biomarker for predicting the outcomes of GC patients and that CERS6 targeting represents a potential modality for treating GC.