Lin X, Lin GF, Gu FT, Li YL. Increasing expression of presenilin 1, β-catenin, and p-PTEN and its regulatory roles on cell invasion in gastric cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(2): 115689 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.115689]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Yong-Liang Li, Director, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, No. 999 Dongzhen East Road, Licheng District, Putian 351100, Fujian Province, China. lx05942022@163.com
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Gastroenterology & Hepatology
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Basic Study
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Feb 15, 2026 (publication date) through Feb 3, 2026
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World Journal of Gastrointestinal Oncology
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1948-5204
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Lin X, Lin GF, Gu FT, Li YL. Increasing expression of presenilin 1, β-catenin, and p-PTEN and its regulatory roles on cell invasion in gastric cancer. World J Gastrointest Oncol 2026; 18(2): 115689 [DOI: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.115689]
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Feb 15, 2026; 18(2): 115689 Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v18.i2.115689
Increasing expression of presenilin 1, β-catenin, and p-PTEN and its regulatory roles on cell invasion in gastric cancer
Xi Lin, Guo-Feng Lin, Fei-Teng Gu, Yong-Liang Li
Xi Lin, Guo-Feng Lin, Fei-Teng Gu, Yong-Liang Li, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, Putian 351100, Fujian Province, China
Author contributions: Lin X, Lin GF, and Gu FT contributed to this paper; Li YL designed the overall concept and made critical revisions related to important intellectual content of the manuscript; Lin X contributed to the manuscript writing and editing; All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Supported by Science and Technology Project of Putian, No. 2022S3F006.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, No. 202281.
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, No. 2022107.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Data sharing statement: The data related to this paper can be obtained from the author on reasonable grounds.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yong-Liang Li, Director, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Putian University, No. 999 Dongzhen East Road, Licheng District, Putian 351100, Fujian Province, China. lx05942022@163.com
Received: October 24, 2025 Revised: November 26, 2025 Accepted: December 22, 2025 Published online: February 15, 2026 Processing time: 101 Days and 19.1 Hours
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Presenilin-1 (PS-1), a part of the gamma-secretase complex, has been implicated as a tumor promoter in various cancers. PS-1 binds to β-catenin through a large hydrophilic loop region that could lead to gastric tumorigenesis by the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/protein kinase B/mechanistic target of rapamycin pathway, which is known to inhibit phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten (PTEN). However, little is known about the mechanisms of PS-1, β-catenin, and PTEN in gastric cancer (GC) tumorigenesis.
AIM
To determine the regulatory correlation among PS-1, β-catenin, and phosphorylation of PTEN (p-PTEN) in GC tumorigenesis .
METHODS
Tissue samples from 116 patients with GC were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Cell lysates from MGC-803 were used to detect protein levels by western blot. Cell invasion ability and metastatic ability were examined in vitro by Transwell invasion and in vivo via tail vein injection, respectively.
RESULTS
The high expression rates of PS-1, β-catenin, and p-PTEN in GC were 60.3% (70/116), 56.9% (66/116), and 47.4% (55/116), respectively, correlating with advanced tumor stages based on tumor invasion, lymph node metastasis, and 5-year survival. PS-1 expression was positively correlated with expression of β-catenin and p-PTEN in patients with GC. PS-1 regulated PTEN phosphorylation and cytoplasmic localization through β-catenin. PS-1 enhanced GC cell invasion via β-catenin.
CONCLUSION
The expression of PS-1 was positively correlated with that of both β-catenin and p-PTEN in GC. The regulation of PTEN phosphorylation and cytoplasmic localization by PS-1 through β-catenin could be considered potential therapeutic targets to prevent GC tumorigenesis.
Core Tip: The high expression of presenilin 1 was correlated with advanced tumor stages, and its expression was positively correlated with expression of β-catenin and phosphorylation of tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten in patients with gastric cancer (GC). The regulation of phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten phosphorylation and cytoplasmic localization by presenilin 1 through β-catenin as a novel signaling pathway of GC progression could contribute to GC tumorigenesis.
