STC2 promotes head and neck squamous cell carcinoma metastasis through modulating the PI3K/AKT/Snail signaling

The mammalian peptide hormone stanniocalcin 2 (STC2) plays an oncogenic role in many human cancers. However, the exact function of STC2 in human head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is unclear. We aimed to examine the function and clinical significance of STC2 in HNSCC. Using in vitro and in vivo assays, we show that overexpression of STC2 suppressed cell apoptosis, promoted cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and cell cycle arrest at the G1/S transition. By contrast, silencing of STC2 inhibited these activities. We further show that STC2 upregulated the phosphorylation of AKT and enhanced HNSCC metastasis via Snail-mediated increase of vimentin and decrease of E-cadherin. These responses were blocked by silencing of STC2/Snail expression or inhibition of pAKT activity. Furthermore, clinical data indicate that high STC2 expression was associated with high levels of pAKT and Snail in tumor samples from HNSCC patients with regional lymph node metastasis (P < 0.01). Thus, we conclude that STC2 controls HNSCC metastasis via the PI3K/AKT/Snail signaling axis and that targeted therapy against STC2 may be a novel strategy to effectively treat patients with metastatic HNSCC.