title: Upregulation of SOX4 antagonizes cellular senescence in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: Senescence, a terminal cell proliferation arrest that is caused by a variety of cellular stresses such as telomere erosion, DNA damage and oncogenic signaling, is classically considered a tumor defense barrier. However, the mechanism by which cancer cells overcome senescence is undetermined. In this study, the gene expression array data of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) was compared with paired normal tissues and showed that a cohort of genes, including proteinases, chemokines and inflammation factors, are upregulated in ESCC, which exhibits the senescence-associated secretory phenotype. In addition, reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was used to demonstrate that gender determining region Y-box 4 (SOX4) is upregulated in ESCC, and that its expression is inversely correlated with senescence markers. In addition, the knockdown of SOX4 expression by short hairpin RNA decreases ESCC cell proliferation and enhances doxorubicin-induced cell senescence. These results reveal the presence of a senescent microenvironment in ESCC, and suggest an important antisenescence role of SOX4 in ESCC progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, P.R. China; Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Rongfei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shiying
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yonghua
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Guangde People's Hospital, Xuancheng, Anhui 242200, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Shanxi Medical University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030001, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaoyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiguo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jiaqi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei 430071, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Qiuping
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Tianfu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Basic Medicine, School of Medicine, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518060, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Duo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medicine, Xinxiang Medical University, Xinxiang, Henan 453003, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wancai
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
keywords: esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; gender determining region Y-box 4; senescence