Downregulation of N-cadherin Expression Inhibits Invasiveness, Arrests Cell Cycle and Induces Cell Apoptosis in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

ABSTRACT

Some studies have demonstrated that N-cadherin is upregulated in more invasive cancer cell lines and tumors and plays a key role in intercellular adhesion. However, the understanding on the roles N-cadherin plays in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still poor. Our data showed that knock-down of N-cadherin in ESCC cell line (EC9706) could arrest cell cycle at G0/G1 phase, induce cell apoptosis, reduce the invasiveness in vitro, and inhibit the tumor formation in vivo. These results suggest that N-cadherin is an important factor in the progression and metastasis of ESCC and N-cadherin may serve as a potential molecular target for biotherapy of ESCC.

Keywords: :

• Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
• RNAi
• N-cadherin
• EC9706

ACKOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Key Project of Science and Technology of Henan Province, P. R. China [grant number 072102310054]. The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.

Declaration of Interest: The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper. B. Lebwohl is supported by a fellowship from the National Cancer Institute (T32-CA095929).