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Increased expression of HSP27 inhibits invasion and metastasis in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Tumor Biology volume 35, pages 6999–7007 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

Previous studies have indicated that heat shock protein 27 (HSP27) had high correlation with the development and progression in several tumors. However, the roles of HSP27 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) were uncertain. The aim in this study is to investigate the potential roles of HSP27 in the metastasis of ESCC. The expression of HSP27 in ESCC tissues and four human esophageal cancer cell lines were examined by immunohistochemistry and Western blotting, respectively. Wound healing assays, transwell assays, and in vivo assays were used to identify the differences of metastasis potential between normal and HSP27 overexpressed cells. HSP27 expression was downregulated in cancer tissue compared to the matched normal tissue. And the positive staining was mainly located in the cytoplasm. Statistical analyses showed that the expression of HSP27 in ESCC was significantly correlated with the tumor differentiation (P = 0.023), the patient’s TNM stage (P = 0.013), lymph metastasis (P = 0.020), and distant metastasis (P = 0.017). HSP27 expression was significantly lower in highly metastatic cells than the less ones. The metastatic potentials of EC9706-H and EC109-H cells were higher than EC9706-L and EC109-L cells. In vitro and in vivo assays showed that overexpression of HSP27 in highly metastatic cells dramatically decreased their metastatic capacity. This study indicated that the expression level of HSP27 may be inversely correlated with the metastasis behavior of ESCC, and HSP27 may play an important role in this progression. HSP27 may be a potential molecular target for the therapy and prognosis of patients with ESCC.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundations of China (NO. 30900674, 81272516, 30973428, 81090273, 81090270) and the Clinical New Techniques Project of Xijing Hospital (No. XJGX13LZ02).

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Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Cancer Biology and Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, 127 Changle Western Road, Xi’an, 710032, China

    Lin Xue, Lei Yang, Zhi-an Jin, Guang-hui Xu, Bing Liu, Hong Li, Xiao-juan Wang, Li-juan Liu, Biao-luo Wang, Shu-hui Liang & Jie Ding

  2. Baoji City Second People’s Hospital, Baoji, 721000, China

    Lei Yang

  3. Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery, Kunming General Hospital of PLA, Kunming, 650032, China

    Fei Gao

  4. Department of Pediatrics, Tangdu Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an, 710038, China

    Jian-qin Kang

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  1. Lin Xue
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  2. Lei Yang
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  3. Zhi-an Jin
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  8. Hong Li
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  9. Xiao-juan Wang
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  11. Biao-luo Wang
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  12. Shu-hui Liang
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  13. Jie Ding
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Correspondence to Shu-hui Liang or Jie Ding.

Additional information

L. Xue, L. Yang, and Zhi-an Jin contributed equally to this work.

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Xue, L., Yang, L., Jin, Za. et al. Increased expression of HSP27 inhibits invasion and metastasis in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Tumor Biol. 35, 6999–7007 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-1946-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13277-014-1946-5

Keywords

  • HSP27
  • Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
  • Invasion
  • Metastasis