title: Oncogenic features of PHF8 histone demethylase in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Esophageal cancer is the sixth leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. It has been reported that histone demethylases are involved in the carcinogenesis of certain types of tumors. Here, we studied the role of one of the histone lysine demethylases, plant homeodomain finger protein 8 (PHF8), in the carcinogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Using short hairpin RNA via lentiviral infection, we established stable ESCC cell lines with constitutive downregulation of PHF8 expression. Knockdown of PHF8 in ESCC cells resulted in inhibition of cell proliferation and an increase of apoptosis. Moreover, there were reductions of both anchorage-dependent and -independent colony formation. In vitro migration and invasion assays showed that knockdown of PHF8 led to a reduction in the number of migratory and invasive cells. Furthermore, downregulation of PHF8 attenuated the tumorigenicity of ESCC cells in vivo. Taken together, our study revealed the oncogenic features of PHF8 in ESCC, suggesting that PHF8 may be a potential diagnostic marker and therapeutic target for ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America ; Department of Gastroenterology, Beijing Friendship Hospital Affiliated to Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Xiujing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Jihui Julia
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Shengtao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Bangwei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Sen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Shutian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shuo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D055785:Gene Knockdown Techniques; D056466:Histone Demethylases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D015513:Oncogene Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D047368:Tumor Burden / Q000235:genetics; D014410:Tumor Stem Cell Assay; D023041:Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays
chemical_list: D015513:Oncogene Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D056466:Histone Demethylases; C511934:PHF8 protein, human