BACKGROUND: Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer worldwide. Thyroid receptor-interacting protein 13 (TRIP13) is a member of the AAA+ ATPase family. The upregulation of TRIP13 has been shown to be involved in a few diseases, especially in cancers, but the expression and function of TRIP13 in bladder cancer is still elusive.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: In our study, the expression of TRIP13 was investigated with immunohistochemistry (IHC). The mRNAs of TRIP13 in bladder cancer and adjacent normal tissues were compared using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and IHC scores. The clinical value of TRIP13 was estimated by evaluating its correlation with other clinicopathological factors using the chi-square test. The prognostic significance of TRIP13 was evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. The effect of TRIP13 on proliferation and invasion was evaluated using function assays in vitro.

RESULTS: In the 139 samples of bladder cancer tissues, the patients with low and high expression of TRIP13 accounted for 64.03% and 35.97%, respectively. Moreover, the mRNA expression of TRIP13 in bladder cancer was significantly higher than in normal tissues. High expression of TRIP13 was remarkably correlated with T stage, metastasis, and poor prognosis. In addition, TRIP13 was demonstrated to promote the proliferation, invasion, and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of bladder cancer.

CONCLUSIONS: TRIP13 is correlated with poor prognosis of bladder cancer by promoting proliferation, invasion, and EMT, indicating that TRIP13 may be a promising drug target in bladder cancer.

Keywords: Mediator Complex Subunit 1, ATPases Associated with Diverse Cellular Activities, Cell Cycle Proteins, Disease Progression, Neoplasm Grading