Tumor metastasis is a multistep process that requires the concerted activity of discrete
biological functions. The epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is the most critical mechanism implicated in
tumor progression that is controlled by the inflammatory microenvironment. Understanding how an inflammatory microenvironment is maintained and contributes to
tumor progression will be crucial for the development of new effective
therapies. Here, we report that
etoposide induced 2.4 (EI24) has a multifaceted role against
tumor progression that is regulated by both EMT and
inflammation. Decreased expression levels of EI24 in epithelial
tumor cells induced EMT in association with increased cell motility and invasiveness and resistance to anoikis. Overexpression of EI24 resulted in the opposite cell
biological characteristics and suppressed in vivometastatic behavior. EI24 attenuated NF-κB activity by binding to the Complex I component
TRAF2 and inducing its lysosome-dependent degradation, leading to transcriptional alterations of EMT- and
inflammation-related genes. Analysis of clinical samples demonstrated that reduced EI24 expression and copy number was positively correlated with
tumor malignancy and poor prognosis. Collectively, these findings establish EI24 as a critical suppressor of
tumor progression and implicate EI24 expression level in malignant
tumors as a useful therapeutic and diagnostic marker.