Upregulated fascin1 in non-small cell lung cancer promotes the migration and invasiveness, but not proliferation

Fascin1, an actin-binding protein, is overexpressed in many kinds of tumors. However, its exact role in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is still unclear. We observed that expression of fascin1 was associated with lymph nodes metastasis and TNM staging but not proliferation in NSCLC by using immunohistochemistry. By generating A549 lung cancer clones stably overexpressing different fascin1 protein, we further confirmed that fascin1 could promote A549 cell migration and invasiveness in vitro and in vivo. Using cell proliferation assay, cell cycle analysis in vitro and tumorigenicity assay in vivo, we showed that fascin1 had little influence on proliferation in A549 cells. These results suggest that fascin1 plays a significant role in NSCLC metastasis and may be a target of intervening to prevent the metastasis of NSCLC.