Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 promotes tumor growth and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma is one of the most aggressive malignancies worldwide. Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 is a nuclear matrix attachment region binding protein which participates in higher order chromatin organization and tissue-specific gene expression. However, the role of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma remains unknown. In this study, western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis were performed to identify differentially expressed special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 in a series of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue samples. The effects of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 silencing by two short-hairpin RNAs on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were assessed by the CCK-8 assay and transwell assays in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in vitro. Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 was significantly upregulated in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma tissue samples and cell lines. Silencing of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 inhibited the proliferation of KYSE450 and EC9706 cells which have a relatively high level of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1, and the ability of migration and invasion of KYSE450 and EC9706 cells was distinctly suppressed. Special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 could be a potential target for the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and inhibition of special AT-rich sequence binding protein 1 may provide a new strategy for the prevention of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma invasion and metastasis.

Functional relevance of SATB1 in immune regulation and tumorigenesis

“…Since the discovery of SATB1, its role in the pathogenesis of various cancers has been investigated. Importantly, upregulation of SATB1 has been shown to promote many pathological features across a wide range of cancers [38,39] including breast [1,[40][41][42], colorectal [2,[43][44][45], lung [46,47], nasopharyngeal [48], oesophageal [3,49,50], gastric [51,52], pancreatic [53,54], ovarian [32,55,56], liver [57][58][59], prostate [60][61][62][63], bladder [64,65], and brain [66][67][68][69][70]. In most cancers, the SATB1 expression is positively associated with increased tumour size, lymph node involvement and metastasis [71,72], tumour progression [1,2], poor prognosis [50,56] and reduced overall survival [49,54].…”

“…The identification of key oncogenic regulators is critical in both defining mechanisms for carcinogenesis as well as for the development of strategies for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer clinically. The special AT-rich sequence-binding protein1 (SATB1) is a nuclear protein and an oncogene, which induces tissue-specific effects on gene regulation and is dysregulated in many cancers [1][2][3].…”

<p>The expression of special AT-rich binding protein 1 in cervical cancer and its clinical significance</p>

“…It is known that SATB1 plays a role in a variety of important biological processes, such as postnatal cerebral cortical development,16 T-cell development,17 lymphocyte differentiation,18 and X-chromosome inactivation 19. In addition to these physiological functions, SATB1 has been shown to be associated with various types of cancers, including esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,20 colorectal,21 pancreatic,22 lung,23 liver,24 kidney,25 and ovarian26 cancers. Altered expression of SATB1 has also been shown to be associated with the development of gynecological cancers.…”