1. Effects of 5-azacytidine on RUNX3 gene expression and the biological behavior of esophageal carcinoma cells.
- Author
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SHUAI WANG, HONG LIU, ZHOU WANG, and HUA-XIA CHEN
- Subjects
AZACITIDINE ,GENE expression ,ESOPHAGEAL cancer ,CANCER cells ,METHYLATION - Abstract
The present study investigated the effects of 5-azacytidine (5-azaC) on the expression level of the human runt-related transcription factor 3 (RUNX3) gene and the biological behavior of esophageal carcinoma Ecal09 cells. The effect of the demethylation reagent 5-azaC on the viability of Ecal09 cells was detected by the MTT assay, which demonstrated that 5-azaC inhibited the viability of Ecal09 cells in a time- and dose-dependent manner. Although demethylation of other genes may occur following treatment with 5-azaC, we focused on the RUNX3 gene. When treated with 5-azaC at hypoxic levels, the expression of RUNX3 increased and the methylation degree of the RUNX3 gene was decreased significantly in Ecal09 cells. 5-azaC at 50 jaM demonstrated the highest RUNX3-induction activity, inducing RUNX3 mRNA and protein expression, and decreasing the degree of methylation of the RUNX3 gene. Methylation specific PCR indicated that 5-azaC induced RUNX3 expression through demethylation. The abilities of migration and invasion of Ecal09 cells were inhibited by 5-azaC. The growth of Ecal09 cells treated with 5-azaC in vivo was detected by a tumorigenesis experiment. 5-azaC inhibited the growth of Ecal09 xenografts in nude mice. Taken together, our findings demonstrated that the RUNX3 gene is hypermethylated in Ecal09 cells and that 5-azaC induces the expression of the RUNX3 gene by demethylation, which inhibits the proliferation, migration and invasion of Ecal09 cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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