Sox3 silencing inhibits metastasis and growth of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell via down-regulating GSK-3β

The early stages of localized esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) can be effectively treated by surgical resection of the early esophageal cancer, but there is still no effective treatment once it has been metastasis to distant tissues. Although a number of both metastasis promoting and metastasis suppressor genes have been reported, the underlying molecular mechanisms responsible for ESCC metastatic cascade are still not fully understood. Therefore, defining the potential molecules that govern ESCC metastasis may aid the development of new therapeutic strategies for combating ESCC. In the present study, we found Sox3 is involved in the metastasis of ESCC cells and demonstrated that Sox3 (Sex determining region Y-box 3) disruption impaired ESCC cells migration and invasion. The requirement of Sox3 in the metastasis of ESCC cells was further confirmed by gene silencing in vitro. Moreover, down-regulation of Sox3 expression strikingly inhibited ESCC cellular growth both in vitro and vivo. Finally, we found that Sox3 promotes ESCC migration and invasion through the GSK-3 beta signaling pathway. To conclude, our findings suggest a novel mechanism underlying the metastasis of ESCC cells which might serve as a new intervention target for the treatment of ESCC.