The downregulation of OPN inhibits proliferation and migration and regulate activation of Erk1/2 in ECA-109 cells.

Osteopontin (OPN) involves in tumor formation, and strongly correlated with the tumor progression. It was overexpressed in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). To study the molecular mechanisms of OPN in ESCC, we examined its roles in inhibiting proliferation and invasion of ECA-109 (esophageal squamous cell carcinoma) cells. The expression of OPN gene was knockdown by RNA interference (RNAi) in the Eca-109 cell. The transcription level of OPN was to detect by reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Western blot assay was performed to detect the expression of OPN, Caspase-3,Caspase-8, Caspase-9, ERK1/2, phospho-ERK1/2 and MMP2 after RNAi. The cell proliferation and apoptosis were detected by MTT and Hoechst33342 assay. Transwell inserts was used for detecting ECA-109 cell's migration ability. The results shown that the level of OPN mRNA and protein was significantly reduced after RNAi. Proliferation and migration of cell line (ECA-109) was significantly inhibited in vitro. The protein phosphorylation and activation of ERK1/2 in the OPN RNAi group reduced significantly than the negative control groups. In Conclusion, the proliferation and migration of human ESCC can be inhibited by RNAi-targeting OPN. OPN can promote the expression of MMP2 through the ERK signaling pathways. OPN could serve as a potential therapeutic target for human ESCC.