Rab8a serves as a valuable biomarker of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Background Esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is a digestive tract malignancy with high morbidity in China, among which esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) accounts for 90% of the confirmed cases. Rab8a is a member of the Ras small GTPase superfamily, and it has been shown to play an important role in endometrial cancer (EC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the function of Rab8a in ESCC are currently unclear. This study aimed to investigate Rab8a as a biomarker for the diagnosis of ESCC. Methods The study first used TIMER2.0, GEPIA and UALCAN to analyze the expression of Rab8a in a variety of clinically common malignancies including ESCC, followed by real-time PCR (quantitative real-time PCR, qPCR), Western blot, immunohistochemical (IHC) ，and a series of in vitro biological experiments Results Rab8a is highly expressed in the esophageal cancer cells and tissues.overexpression of Rab8a can promote the proliferation and migration of ESCC ,while knockdown its expression can inhibit the proliferation and migration of ESCC. Correlation analysis revealed the positive correlation between the expression of Rab8a and NDUFA1, CYC1 in public GEO databases. Therefore, Rab8a may promote ESCC progression by activating mitochondrial respiration. Conclusions This study demonstrated that Rab8a is upregulated in ESCC and may promote ESCC cell proliferation and migration by activating mitochondrial respiration. This study provides a rationale for clinical diagnosis and screening of new therapeutic targets for ESCC.