title: The expression ofaplysia ras homolog I (ARHI)and its inhibitory effect on cell biological behavior in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Aplysia ras homolog I (ARHI)is a Ras-related maternally imprinted tumor suppressor gene. Loss ofARHIexpression contributes to the malignant progression of various tumors. However, reports on the clinical implications and functional role ofARHIexpression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) are limited. This study examined the role ofARHIin ESCC.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 81 patients diagnosed with ESCC based on histopathological evaluations who were subjected to surgical resection were included in the study.ARHIexpression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and western blotting, examining the correlations betweenARHIexpression and patient clinicopathological features. The functional effects ofARHIoverexpression were examined using a Cell Counting Kit-8 assay, flow cytometry, a Transwell assay, wound healing, and western blotting in the ECA109 cell line.
  
  
  RESULTS
  ARHIwas highly expressed in 27.5% (22/81) of ESCC specimens (adjacent noncancerous tissues, 85.2%, 69/81;P<0.05). TheARHIexpression level was significantly lower in patients with lymph node metastasis than in patients without (P<0.05). A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that patients with lowARHIexpression had shorter survival than patients with high expression (P<0.05), and a multivariate Cox analysis revealed thatARHIis an independent predictor of overall survival (P=0.029). Finally, overexpression ofARHIin ESCC cells indicates thatARHIsuppresses proliferative capacity, invasive capacity, and cell cycle progression and may also suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition and induce apoptosis and autophagy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  ARHImay be a prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target in ESCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Yuqiang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Surgery, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Shi
keywords: aplysia ras homolog I; cell biological behavior; esophageal squamous cell carcinoma