Transcriptional landscapes and signaling pathways of chloroquine-treated Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is one of the human malignancies worldwide, but the mechanism of ESCC development is still unclear. Chloroquine has the anti-tumor function by the inhibition of autophagy and thereby contributing to apoptosis. In our study, we analyzed the RNA-seq data of Chloroquine-treated ESCC cells and identified the transcriptional landscapes. We then used the gene enrichment methods such as KEGG and GO to further analyze the potential signaling pathways. In addition, we constructed the PPI network and Reactome map to further identified the biological processes. We identified the top two signaling pathways that were involved in the chloroquine-treated ESCC: Cell cycle and Glycerophospholipid metabolism. We identified the top ten interactive genes including ATM, CCNB1, FN1, CCT6A, VEGFA, PA2G4, CCT2, CDKN1A, BRIX1, and CDC20. Our study may provide new insights into the mechanisms for the Chloroquine-treated ESCC cells.