OBJECTIVE: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant tumor worldwide. Its five-year survival rate has decreased significantly in recent years. This study was aimed at exploring the roles of the IGF2BP1/UHRF2 axis and miR-98-5p in the progression of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
METHODS: The ESCC tissues and paracancerous tissues were collected from the 40 patients with ESCC after surgical resection at the First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University (Chongqing, China) from January 2019 to January 2020. The clinicopathological characteristics of these patients were analyzed. Gene expression in all specimens was tested to detect miR-98-5p expression. The function of miR-98-5p on ESCC cell proliferation and apoptosis was performed. The relationship between UHRF2, IGF2BP1, and miR-98-5p was analyzed by IP assay, bioinformatics methods, and Western bolt. in vitro
RESULTS: The expression of miR-98-5p decreased in 32/40 (80.0%) of the ESCC patient samples. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis of the TCGA cohort grouped by miR-98-5p levels produced significant differences in overall survival (log rank=0.027). miR-98-5p suppressed ESCC progression. IGF2BP1 and UHRF2 promoted ESCC invasion and proliferation, and they inhibited apoptosis through miR-98-5p mediation. p
CONCLUSION: miR-98-5p and the IGF2BP1/UHRF2 axis might have the biological functions of regulating cell proliferation and apoptosis in the progression of ESCC, which might provide potential novel targets, such as miR-98-5p, in the treatment of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
