Tumor metastasis is the leading cause of mortality in patients with advanced
ovarian cancer.
Myelin protein zero like 1 (MPZL1) is a transmembrane
glycoprotein that promotes migration of
hepatocellular carcinoma cells and is involved in extracellular matrix‑induced signal transduction. However, the functional role of MPZL1 in
ovarian cancer has not been well elucidated. The present study conducted western blotting, phase‑contrast imaging and immunohistochemistry to reveal the functions of MPZL1 in
ovarian cancer. The present study demonstrated that the expression levels of MPZL1 were associated with malignant features of
ovarian cancer. Furthermore, overexpression of MPZL1 significantly promoted cell proliferation, migration and invasion of
ovarian cancer cells. Conversely, MPZL1 depletion by
short hairpin RNA inhibited migration and invasion of
ovarian cancer cells. In addition, this study demonstrated that phosphorylation of
Src kinase was increased upon MPZL1 overexpression. Additionally, phosphorylation and activation of pro‑metastatic
proteins p130 and
cortactin were induced by phosphorylated
Src kinase. Collectively, these findings indicated that MPZL1 may be a novel pro‑metastatic gene, which promotes
tumor cell proliferation and migration through Src‑mediated phosphorylation of p130 and
cortactin in
ovarian cancer.