Construction and investigation of β3GNT2-associated regulatory network in esophageal carcinoma

BACKGROUND: Glycosyltransferases play a crucial role in various cancers. β1, 3-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase 2, a polylactosamine synthase, is an important member of the glycosyltransferase family. However, the biological function and regulatory mechanism of β3GNT2 in esophageal carcinoma (ESCA) is still poorly understood. METHODS: The Cancer Genome Atlas and Genotype-Tissue Expression databases were used for gene expression and prognosis analysis. Quantitative real-time PCR, Western blot, and immunohistochemistry were performed to detect the expression of β3GNT2 in ESCA cell lines and tissues. In vitro assays and xenograft tumor models were utilized to evaluate the impact of β3GNT2 on ESCA progression. The downstream effectors and upstream regulators of β3GNT2 were predicted by online software and verified by functional experiments. RESULTS: We found that β3GNT2 was highly expressed in ESCA tissues and positively correlated with poor prognosis in ESCA patients. β3GNT2 expression was closely associated with the tumor size, TNM stage, and overall survival of ESCA patients. Functionally, β3GNT2 promoted ESCA cell growth, migration, and invasion in vitro, as well as tumorigenesis in vivo. Mechanistically, β3GNT2 knockdown decreased the expression of the polylactosamine on EGFR. Knockdown of β3GNT2 also inhibited the JAK/STAT signaling pathway. Meanwhile, the JAK/STAT inhibitor could partly reverse the biological effects caused by β3GNT2 overexpression. Moreover, β3GNT2 expression was positively regulated by CREB1 and negatively regulated by miR-133b. Both CREB1 and miR-133b was involved in the β3GNT2-mediated ESCA progression. CONCLUSIONS: Our study, for the first time, reveals the importance of β3GNT2 in ESCA progression and offers a potential therapeutic target for ESCA. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s11658-022-00306-y.