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Transcriptional factor OCT4 promotes esophageal cancer metastasis by inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition through VEGF-C/VEGFR-3 signaling pathway
The octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) can promote cancer proliferation and metastasis. Esophageal carcinoma (ECC) harbors different quantities of OCT4-positive cancer cells. These cells are highly malignant and prone to metastasis; however, the mechanism remains unknown. In this study, w...
Autores principales: | , , , , , , , , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
Impact Journals LLC
2017
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5641101/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29069758 http://dx.doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.18035 |
Sumario: | The octamer-binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) can promote cancer proliferation and metastasis. Esophageal carcinoma (ECC) harbors different quantities of OCT4-positive cancer cells. These cells are highly malignant and prone to metastasis; however, the mechanism remains unknown. In this study, we found that OCT4 enhances vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) promoter activity to promote VEGF-C expression and activates VEGF receptor 3 (VEGFR-3) in ECC cells, thereby inducing cancer cell epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Studies using xenograft models showed that OCT4 promoted xenograft growth and intraperitoneal implantation metastasis of ECC cells. Downregulation of OCT4 expression could inhibit cancer metastasis. OCT4- and VEGF-C-positive ECC presented more malignant biological behaviors and the corresponding patients exhibited a poor prognosis. The study confirmed that the OCT4/VEGF-C/VEGFR-3/EMT signaling plays a role in the progression of ECC. Understanding of how OCT4 regulates EMT and how ECC metastasis occurs will provide useful targets for the biological treatment of ECC. |
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