The ETNK2 gene promotes progression of papillary thyroid carcinoma through the HIPPO pathway

Thyroid cancer is a disease with an extremely high incidence rate and is divided into papillary, follicular, medullary, and undifferentiated thyroid cancers. Among them, papillary carcinoma is the most common subtype. We assessed expression of ETNK2 in public databases and found that ETNK2 is upregulated in PTC. Cohort and RNA sequencing data were used to verify this discovery. To further determine the relationship between ETNK2 and papillary thyroid carcinoma, we performed an in vitro experiment. In a PTC cell line, silencing ETNK2 inhibited cell proliferation, weakened cell migration and invasion ability, promoted apoptosis, and blocked the cell cycle. In addition, western blotting suggested that ETNK2 is related to the HIPPO pathway and may activate the EMT pathway through the HIPPO pathway to promote the development of thyroid cancer. These results revealed that ETNK2 is related to the occurrence and development of papillary thyroid carcinoma, suggesting that ETNK2 may be an oncogene associated with PTC.