Objective To investigate the impact of Enhancer of Zeste Homolog 2 (EZH2) expression on endometrial cancer cell line behavior. Methods/materials EZH2 expression levels were compared between the non-malignant endometrial cell line T-HESC, and 3 endometrial cancer cell lines, ECC-1, RL95-2 and HEC1-A. Stable EZH2 knockdown cell lines were created and the impact on cellular proliferation, migration and invasion were determined. Fluorescent activated cell sorting was used to examine effects of EZH2 silencing on cell cycle progression. EZH2 expression in endometrial cancer tissue specimens was examined using immunohistochemistry. Comparison of differences between control and shEZH2 cell lines was performed using student's t test and Fischer's exact test. Results EZH2 protein expression was increased in all 3 cancer cell lines, and human endometrial cancer tissue specimens relative to control. RNA interference of EZH2 expression in ECC-1, RL95-2, and HEC1-A significantly decreased cell proliferation, migration and invasion. Down regulation of EZH2 expression resulted in a significant increase in the proportion of cells arrested in G2/M. RNA interference of EZH2 expression was associated with an increase in the expression of Wnt pathway inhibitors sFRP1 and DKK3, and a concomitant decrease in β-catenin. EZH2 expression in human tissue samples was significantly associated with increased stage, grade, depth of invasion and nodal metastasis. Conclusions EZH2 expression is associated with tumor cell proliferation, migration and invasion in 3 endometrial cancer cell lines, as well as increased stage, grade, depth of invasion and nodal metastasis in human cancer tissue specimens. Further investigation into this potential therapeutic target is warranted.

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