Background: The molecular mechanism underlying the progression of gastric cancer (GC) remains unclear, the overexpression level of SALL4 has been demonstrated in many cancers and participated in tumorigenesis, however, it is still ambiguous for the expression and function of SALL4 in GC, especially its upstream mechanistic modulators.Method: Analysis of discrepant gene expression in GC and normal gastric tissues from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) dataset. Cultured GC cell lines were treated with siEZH2 and siKDM6A and checked for their in uences on SALL4, the transduction molecules of KDM6A/EZH2-SALL4-β-catenin signaling were quanti ed in the GC cells.Results: Here, we showed that only SALL4 levels of SALL family members were upregulated in nonpaired and paired GC tissues than those in corresponding normal tissues and were associated with its histological types, pathological stages, TNM stages, and overall survival from the TCGA dataset. SALL4 level was elevated in GC cells compared to normal gastric epithelial cell line (GES-1) and was correlated to cancer cell progression and invasion through the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in GC, which levels would be separately upregulated or downregulated by KDM6A or EZH2.
Conclusion:We rst proposed and demonstrated that SALL4 promoted GC cell progression via the Wnt/βcatenin pathway, which was mediated by the dual regulation of EZH2 and KDM6A on SALL4. This mechanistic pathway in gastric cancer represents a novel targetable pathway.