Downregulation of N-cadherin expression inhibits invasiveness, arrests cell cycle and induces cell apoptosis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Some studies have demonstrated that N-cadherin is upregulated in more invasive cancer cell lines and tumors and plays a key role in intercellular adhesion. However, the understanding on the roles N-cadherin plays in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is still poor. Our data showed that knock-down of N-cadherin in ESCC cell line (EC9706) could arrest cell cycle at G0/G1 phase, induce cell apoptosis, reduce the invasiveness in vitro, and inhibit the tumor formation in vivo. These results suggest that N-cadherin is an important factor in the progression and metastasis of ESCC and N-cadherin may serve as a potential molecular target for biotherapy of ESCC.