Keratin 14-high subpopulation mediates lung cancer metastasis potentially through Gkn1 upregulation

Metastasis is the leading cause of lung cancer-related death. Elucidating the metastasis process can provide new avenues to inhibit this malignant behavior of cancer cells. Here we found that human lung cancers with high Keratin 14 (K14) expression were associated with nodal metastasis and poor survival. Using the Kras(G12D)/Trp53(L/L) lung cancer mouse model, we confirmed that K14-high cancer cells harbored increased metastatic potential. Mechanistic investigation revealed that Gastrokine 1 (Gknl) expression positively correlated with K14 level, cancer metastasis, and poor patient survival. Importantly, ectopic expression of Gknl enhanced the metastatic capability of K14-low cells in vitro and in vivo, whereas knockdown of Gknl did the opposite, indicating the importance of Gknl in mediating the metastasis of K14-high cells. Further study demonstrated that Gknl expression conferred K14-high cells resistance to anoikis, which is critical for cancer metastasis. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that K14-high cells contribute to lung cancer metastasis potentially through inhibition of anoikis via upregulation of Gknl.