Fig 1.
Expression of CST1 in esophageal cancer by TCGA.
(A) Expression of CST1 in patients with esophageal cancer and normal subjects. (B) Expression of CST1 in patients with all grades of esophageal cancer. (C) Expression of CST1 in patients with all stages of esophageal cancer. (D) Expression of CST1 in patients with different lymph node metastases of esophageal cancer. (E) Survival probability of esophageal cancer patients with different levels of CST1 expression. (* P<0.05).
Fig 2.
The expression of CST1 in cancerous and paired paracancerous tissues of ESCC patients (A) Positive expression of CST1 in ESCC cancer tissues (×400). (B) Negative expression of CST1 in paracancerous tissues (×400). (C) Relative expression of CST1 mRNA in 20 pairs of cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues. (* P<0.05,** P<0.01, *** P<0.001, ****P<0.0001).
Table 1.
Positive expression rate of CST1 in cancerous and paired paracancerous tissues of ESCC patients.
Fig 3.
Construction of CST1 overexpression/knockdown cells.
(A) CST1 mRNA and protein expression in 7 cell lines (vs TE-13). (B) mRNA and protein expression of CST1 overexpression/knockdown cells. (** P<0.01, *** P<0.001, ****P<0.0001).
Fig 4.
Effect of CST1 on migration and invasion as well as EMT-related protein expression of ESCC cells (×200).
(A) CST1 overexpression/knockdown cell migration. (B) CST1 overexpression/knockdown cell invasion. (C) Expression of EMT-related proteins MMP2, E-cadherin and Slug.(* P<0.05, ** P<0.01, *** P<0.001, **** P<0.0001).
Fig 5.
Effect of CST1 on MEK/ERK/CREB pathway.
(A) Changes in MEK/ERK/CREB pathway proteins. (B) Changes in MEK/ERK/CREB pathway and EMT-related proteins after the addition of inhibitor PD98059 (20μM). (C) Changes in cell migration ability after the addition of inhibitor PD98059 (×200). (D) Changes in cell invasion ability after the addition of inhibitor PD98059 (×200). (** P<0.01).
Fig 6.
MiR-942-5p regulates the expression of CST1.
(A) Conserved binding sites of four miRNAs to CST1 sequences. (B) Expression of miR-942-5p in 7 cell lines. (C) Expression of miR-942-5p after transfection of mimics. (D) Expression of miR-942-5p after transfection of inhibitor. (E) Effect of miR-942-5p on CST1 protein levels. (F) Effect of miR-942-5p on CST1 mRNA levels. (G) Dual luciferase assay demonstrated the regulation of CST1 by miR-942-5p. (*P<0.05, ** P<0.01).
Fig 7.
The expression of miR-942-5p in cancerous and paired paracancerous tissues of ESCC patients.
(*P<0.05, ** P<0.01,*** P<0.01).
Fig 8.
Effect of miR-942-5p on migration and invasion of ESCC cells (×200).
(A) MiR-942-5p inhibits migration in KYSE150 cells. (B) MiR-942-5p inhibits invasion in KYSE150 cells. (* P<0.05).