Expression and role of HSP90α in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Objective: This study aims to examine the expression of HSP90α in esophageal carcinoma, and explore the effects of siRNA-HSP90α on the biological behaviors of esophageal cancer cell CE81T-4. Methods: The expression of HSP90α in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) of Kazakh was detected by IHC. The relationship between this expression and clinical pathological parameters was analyzed. The expression of HSP90α in CE81T-4 cells was downregulated by siRNA and changes of HSP90α were detected by qRT-PCR and western blot. Its impact on CE81T-4 cell proliferation was analyzed by MTT assay, while cell cycle and apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Moreover, cell migration and invasion changes were detected by scratch and Transwell assays. Results: The expression of HSP90α in ESCC was significantly higher than that in paracancerous tissues (P<0.05). Its expression was associated with tumor invasion, differentiation and lymph node metastasis (P<0.05). After siRNA-HSP90α was expressed in CE81T-4 cells, mRNA and protein levels decreased (P<0.01). Furthermore, cell proliferation was inhibited by HSP90α downregulation, cell cycle was arrested at the G0/G1 phase, apoptosis was enhanced, and cell migration and invasion were decreased (P<0.01). Conclusions: HSP90α was highly expressed in ESCC of Kazakh, and was found to be associated to the invasion, metastasis and differentiation of ESCC. The downregulation of HSP90α could inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of esophageal cancer cells.