Endothelial cell specific molecule 1 promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transition of cervical cancer via the E-box binding homeobox 1.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the mechanism of endothelial cell specific molecule 1 (ESM1) promoting cervical cancer cell proliferation and EMT characteristics through zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 (ZEB1)/EMT pathway.

METHODS

The correlation between ESM1 expression and prognosis of cervical cancer patients was analyzed by bioinformatics. SiHa, HeLa cell lines and corresponding control cell lines with stable ESM1 expression were obtained. Cell proliferation ability was detected by CCK-8 assay. The invasion and migration ability of Hela and SiHa cells were detected by Transwell assay and scratch closure assay. Expressions of EMT-related markers E-cadherin and Vimentin were detected by real-time PCR. The ability of silenced ESM1 to tumor formation in vivo was detected by tumor formation in nude mice. The effects of aloe-emodin on inhibit ESM1 expression and its inhibitory effect on cervical cancer cells in vitro and in vivo were analyzed by the same method.

RESULTS

ESM1 was highly expressed in cervical cancer, and the high expression of ESM1 was associated with poor prognosis of cervical cancer patients. CCK-8 results showed that the proliferation, invasion and migration of Hela and SiHa cells were significantly reduced after siRNA interfered with ESM1 expression. Overexpression of ESM1 promoted the proliferation and migration of cervical cancer cells. Mechanism studies have shown that the oncogenic effect of ESM1 is realized through the ZEB1/PI3K/AKT pathway. High throughput drug screening found that aloe-emodin can target ESM1. Inhibitory effect of aloe emodin on ESM1/ZEB1/EMT signaling pathway and cervical cancer cells.

CONCLUSION

The silencing of ESM1 expression may inhibit the proliferation, invasion, metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation of cervical cancer cells by inhibiting ZEB1/PI3K/AKT. Aloe-emodin is a potential treatment for cervical cancer, which can play an anti-tumor role by inhibiting ESM1/ZEB1.