Gastric cancer (GC) is the third most common cause of cancer‑related death in the world. Annexin A10 (ANXA10), a member of the Annexin family, is a calcium‑/phospholipid‑binding protein; however, little is known concerning its functions. It is still unclear what molecule is involved in the induction of ANXA10. In the present study, we performed immunohistochemistry to evaluate the expression of ANXA10, pancreatic and duodenal homeobox‑1 (PDX1) and mucin phenotype markers in 130 GC samples. ANXA10 was detected in 63 (48%) of the 130 GC cases and loss of ANXA10 was significantly correlated with disease progression and poor clinical outcomes in GC. PDX1 was significantly correlated with ANXA10 in GC cases and cell lines. Although PDX1 was not significantly correlated with the GC cases with any of the mucin phenotypes, ANXA10 was preferentially detected in the GC cases with the gastric mucin phenotype. As a further investigation, we generated organoids derived from human GC and identified the duplication of the mucin phenotypes of GC by immunohistochemistry. The repression effect on cell growth that was observed in the ANXA10‑knockdown cell lines was also clearly observed in the human gastric organoids. We demonstrated that the expression of ANXA10 was correlated with the gastric mucin phenotype and ANXA10 was involved in the induction of PDX1 expression in GC. We also provided evidence that GC organoids represent a powerful tool for scrutinizing the biology of GC, especially with regard to the mucin phenotype.
Keywords: annexin A10; pancreatic and duodenal homeobox-1; organoid; mucin phenotype; gastric cancer.