Expression of PAX9 in Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma

ZHU Shanshan; JIA Lina; ZHANG Xinxin; ZHANG Xingshu; BAO Jing; DONG Ying; WU Nan; BAO Xiaohong

Abstract：Objective To investigate the expression of paired box gene 9 (PAX9) in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ES-CC) , and explore its effect and mechanism on cell growth and proliferation, so as to search for new targets and methods for the treat-ment of esophageal cancer. Methods 4 ESCC cells were cultured to extract total RNA and total protein. MRNA of PAX9 and protein expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cells were detected by RT-PCR and Western blot; synthesis and construction of PAX9 shRNA vector were performed and transfection of esophageal squamous carcinoma cell was done. The expression of inhibition of PAX9 and the activity of AKT (p-AKT) in PI3K/AKT signal pathway were detected by Western blot. Survival rate of ESCC was cal-culated by trypan blue exclusion assay. Results PAX9 was expressed at both mRNA and protein levels in esophageal squamous carci-noma cells;silencing the PAX9 gene can inhibit the proliferation of ESCC cells and make p-AKT expression decrease, indicating that PAX9 promotes cell proliferation through the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway. Conclusion PAX9 is a necessary transcription factor to the growth and proliferation of ESCC cells and promotes cell proliferation through the regulation of the PI3K / AKT signaling pathway, which provides experimental basis to molecular targeted therapy for esophageal cancer.