MCM7 amplification and overexpression promote cell proliferation, colony formation and migration in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by activating the AKT1/mTOR signaling pathway.

The roles and mechanisms of mini-chromosome maintenance complex component 7 (MCM7) amplification and overexpression in esophageal carcinogenesis were investigated. By analyzing the TCGA datasets, we found that MCM7 was amplified in approximately 12% of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs), and in more than 4% of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and stomach carcinomas. Overexpression of MCM7 was further verified in three independent GEO datasets of esophageal cancer. Knockdown of MCM7 using two siRNAs significantly inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation and migration of KYSE510 and EC9706 cells in vitro. Noteworthy, we further found that silencing of MCM7 suppressed the phosphorylation of AKT1 and mTOR both in KYSE510 and EC9706 cells, and reduced the cell cycle regulatory proteins cyclin D1, cyclin E2 and CDK2. Taken together, our findings suggested that MCM7 promoted tumor cell proliferation, colony formation and migration of ESCC cells via activating AKT1/mTOR signaling pathway.