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World J Gastroenterol. Dec 21, 2014; 20(47): 17894-17904
Published online Dec 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i47.17894
Published online Dec 21, 2014. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v20.i47.17894
HIF-1α induces VE-cadherin expression and modulates vasculogenic mimicry in esophageal carcinoma cells
Na-Na Tang, Hong Zhu, Hong-Jie Zhang, Wei-Feng Zhang, Hai-Lin Jin, Lu Wang, Pin Wang, Gui-Jun He, Bo Hao, Rui-Hua Shi, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China
Author contributions: Tang NN, Wang L and Jin HL performed the majority of experiments; Zhang WF, Hao B and Wang P provided vital reagents and analytical tools; He GJ collected all the human materials; Shi RH designed the study; Tang NN wrote the manuscript; Zhang HJ and Zhu H revised the manuscript.
Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 30770991 and No. 30800511; and Esophageal Carcinoma Innovative Research Program of Jiangsu Provincial Hospitals
Correspondence to: Rui-Hua Shi, PhD, Department of Gastroenterology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, 300 Guangzhou Road, Nanjing 210029, Jiangsu Province, China. ruihuashi@126.com
Telephone: +86-25-83718836 Fax: +86-25-83674636
Received: January 19, 2014
Revised: April 3, 2014
Accepted: May 29, 2014
Published online: December 21, 2014
Revised: April 3, 2014
Accepted: May 29, 2014
Published online: December 21, 2014
Core Tip
Core tip: Hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) is a key factor in regulating and promoting tumor progression. Angiogenesis and vasculogenic mimicry (VM) may play an important role in tumor acquisition of increased blood supply. We investigated the role of HIF-1α in the formation of VM in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). We showed that HIF-1α may upregulate the expression of VE-cadherin to modulate VM in ESCC, which may be related to changes in ephrin A2 and laminin 5γ2 protein expression. These results may have implications for the treatment of malignant tumor diseases.