The effect of mucin 1 in epithelial-mesenchymal transition of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective To detect the effect of gene silence targeting mucin 1 (MUC1) on biological behaviour of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma,and explore the function of MUC1 in the process of epithelial-mesenchymal transition.Methods To construct the short hairpin RNA (shRNA) lentiviral vector targeting MUC1.After transfection,the interference effect of MUC1 on Eca109 cells was detected by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) and Western blotting.The cell proliferation of Ecal09 was assessed by methyl thiazol tetrazolium (MTT) and the cell invasion was detected by transwell assay.Finally,RT-PCR and Western blot were used to examine the expression levels of E-cadherin in Ecal09 cells.Results Compared with the untransfected control,MUC1 expression in Eca109 cells transfected with MUC1 shRNA was decreased significantly at both mRNA (1.000 ±0.061 vs.0.612 ±0.019)and protein levels (11.230 ± 1.120 vs.7.440 ±0.970) (P ＜0.05).Meanwhile,the cell proliferation of Eca109 cells transfected with MUC1 shRNA was significantly lower at 48 h (0.393 ±0.028 vs.0.281 ±0.020) and 72 h (0.792 ± 0.052 vs.0.463 ± 0.028),respectively (P all ＜ 0.05),and the invasion ability of which was decreased obviously (87 ± 4 vs.48 ± 7,P ＜ 0.05).Notable,E-cadherin expression in Eca109 cells transfected with MUC1 shRNA was significantly higher at both mRNA (1.000 ± 0.072 vs.2.510 ±0.767) and protein levels (0.070 ±0.020 vs.0.130 ±0.030,P＜0.05).Conclusion MUC1 might promote the invasion and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Key words: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; Epithelial-mesenchymal transition; Tumor invasion and metastasis; Mucin 1