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Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains one of the most common malignancies in China and has a high metastasis rate and poor prognosis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), a prominent component of the tumor microenvironment, can affect tumor progression and metastasis, but the underlying mechanism remains unclear. There are no studies that explore the role of hydrogen peroxide-inducible clone 5 (HIC-5) in ESCC or compare the role of HIC-5 in CAFs and adjacent noncancerous normal fibroblasts (NFs). In this study, we isolated primary CAFs and NFs from ESCC patients. HIC-5 was highly expressed in CAFs from the tumor stroma of human ESCC patients. HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs inhibited the migration and invasion of ESCC cells in vitro. Supernatant CCL2 levels of CAFs were significantly higher after TGF-β stimulation and lower after knocking down HIC-5 expression, independent of TGF-β treatment. HIC-5 knockdown in CAFs led xenograft tumors derived from ESCC cells mixed with CAFs to present more regular morphology, express higher CDH1, and lower CCL2. Further RNA-seq data showed that HIC-5 has distinct biological functions in CAFs vs. NFs, especially in cell movement and the Rho GTPase signaling kinase pathway, which was verified by wound-healing assays and western blotting. An ESCC tissue microarray revealed that increased HIC-5 expression in the tumor stroma was associated with positive lymph node metastasis and a higher TNM stage. In summary, we identified that stromal HIC-5 was a predictive risk factor for lymph node metastasis in human ESCC and that CAF-derived HIC-5 regulated ESCC cell migration and invasion by regulating cytokines and modifying the ECM.

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BackgroundA healthy gastric mucosal epithelium exhibits tumor-suppressive properties. Gastric epithelial cell dysfunction contributes to gastric cancer development. Oxysterols provided from food or cholesterol oxidation in the gastric epithelium may be further sulfated by hydroxysteroid sulfotransferase 2B1 (SULT2B1), which is highly abundant in the gastric epithelium. However, the effects of SULT2B1 on gastric epithelial function and gastric carcinogenesis are unclear.MethodsA mouse gastric tumor model was established using carcinogenic agent 3-methylcholanthrene (3-MCA). A SULT2B1 deletion (SULT2B1−/−) human gastric epithelial line GES-1 was constructed by CRISPR/CAS9 genome editing system.ResultsThe gastric tumor incidence was higher in the SULT2B1−/− mice than in the wild-type (WT) mice. In gastric epithelial cells, adenovirus-mediated SULT2B1b overexpression reduced the levels of oxysterols, such as 24(R/S),25-epoxycholesterol (24(R/S),25-EC) and 27-hydroxycholesterol (27HC). This condition also increased PI3K/AKT signaling to promote gastric epithelial cell proliferation, epithelization, and epithelial development. However, SULT2B1 deletion or SULT2B1 knockdown suppressed PI3K/AKT signaling, epithelial cell epithelization, and wound healing and induced gastric epithelial cell malignant transition upon 3-MCA induction.ConclusionsThe abundant SULT2B1 expression in normal gastric epithelium might maintain epithelial function via the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway and suppress gastric carcinogenesis induced by a carcinogenic agent.