Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2023. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastrointest Oncol. Dec 15, 2023; 15(12): 2185-2196
Published online Dec 15, 2023. doi: 10.4251/wjgo.v15.i12.2185
Paired-related homeobox 1 induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oesophageal squamous cancer
Jin-Bao Guo, Ming Du, Bin Wang, Li Zhong, Zhong-Xue Fu, Jin-Lai Wei
Jin-Bao Guo, Ming Du, Bin Wang, Department of Thoracic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Li Zhong, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Zhong-Xue Fu, Jin-Lai Wei, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, Chongqing 400016, China
Author contributions: Guo JB and Zhong L designed the research and wrote the paper; Wei JL performed the research and analyzed results; Du M, Wang B, and Fu ZX edited the manuscript and provided critical comments.
Institutional review board statement: All experimental protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Approval number 2021-033).
Institutional animal care and use committee statement: All experimental protocols were approved by the Ethics Committee the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Approval number 2021-033).
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Data sharing statement: Technical appendix, statistical code, and dataset available from the corresponding author at zhongli401@126.com.
ARRIVE guidelines statement: The authors have read the ARRIVE guidelines, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the ARRIVE guidelines.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Li Zhong, PhD, Academic Editor, Doctor, Researcher, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University, No. 1 Youyi Road, Yuanjiagang Street, Chongqing 400016, China. zhongli401@126.com
Received: August 15, 2023
Peer-review started: August 15, 2023
First decision: October 9, 2023
Revised: October 16, 2023
Accepted: November 9, 2023
Article in press: November 9, 2023
Published online: December 15, 2023
Processing time: 117 Days and 4.6 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Esophageal cancer is one of the most common cancers with high morbidity and mortality. It is unclear that paired-related homeobox 1 (PRRX1) induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in oesophageal cancer and the specific function of PRRX1 in oesophageal cancer metastasis.

Research motivation

This study is to assess the significance of PRRX1 expression and investigate the mechanism of EMT in oesophageal cancer metastasis.

Research objectives

One hundred primary oesophageal cancer tissue samples were collected from Thoracic Surgery and the human oesophageal squamous carcinoma cell lines EC109 and EC9706.

Research methods

The expression of PRRX1 by the chemical test of immunohistochemical tissue is in the esophageal tumor tissue. The PRRX1 short hair holder RNA (SHRNA) or blank virus gene delivery system is transfected into the cells. Cell proliferation measurement, the formation of soft agar colonies, cell invasion and migration measurement, and animal research are used to observe the cell biological characteristics of internal and internal body. Mouse experimental testing and metastasis of esophageal tumors in the body. Immunfluorescence staining and protein marks analysis is used to detect protein expression of EMT labeling and Wnt/β-catenin. XAV939 and LiCl are used to change the activity of Wnt/β-catenin pathway.

Research results

PRRX1 is expressed in high levels in the specimen of esophageal cancer and is closely related to the metastasis and prognosis of the tumor metastasis and prognosis of patients with esophageal cancer. The regulation of PRRX1 may have a significant impact on cell proliferation, especially the migration and invasion of esophageal cancer cells. The expression of PRRX1 is closely related to EMT and Wnt/β-catenin. Further experiments, using shRNA to silence the expression of PRRX1 have the opposite effect. In addition, when PRRX1 was expressed, the inhibitory effect of XAV939 on WNT/β-catenin’s inhibitory has denied the effect of PRRX1 on EMT. When the expression of PRRX1 was downregulated, the Wnt/β-catenin pathway with LiCl impaired the effect on EMT.

Research conclusions

In oesophageal cancer, PRRX1 is closely related to the metastasis and prognosis of tumor. PRRX1 can improve the ability to value and metastasize tumors. PRRX1 regulate EMT increases the ability of tumors. Further research found that PRRX1 regulates EMT through the Wnt/β-catenin signal.

Research perspectives

The expression of PRRX1 is closely related to the metastasis and prognosis of esophageal cancer, which also shows that PRRX1 may become a potential esophageal cancer treatment target. Our studies have confirmed that PRRX1 is regulating EMT through WNT/β-catenin. More PRRX1 regulation mechanisms and downstream target areas need to be more in-depth research.