Lgr5 maintains stemness and regulates cell property in nasopharyngeal carcinoma through Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a common malignant tumor in Southern China and Southeast Asia. In this study, we found that Leucine rich repeat containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) was highly expressed in NPC tissues and marked NPC stem cells. Lgr5high tumors showed differential transcriptional landscape compared to Lgr5not high tumors. Lgr5 expression was associated with the clinicopathologic features in NPC and was able to regulate the stemness and viability of NPC cell line CNE1 and HNE1. Meanwhile, the migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was modulated by Lgr5 via Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. Furthermore, Lgr5 could regulate the sensitivity of NPC cells to chemotherapy drugs. Xenografted tumors from Lgr5-overexpressed CNE1 cells showed stronger tumor forming capacity and higher expression level of stem cell markers. Thus, we characterized previously unidentified role of Lgr5 in NPC cells, potential serving as a NPC stem cell biomarker and a therapeutic target against NPC.