VRK1 promotes cisplatin resistance by up-regulating c-MYC via c-Jun activation and serves as a therapeutic target in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

ABSTRACT: Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is a common malignant disease characterized by poor prognosis. Chemoresistance remains a major cause of ESCC relapse. Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) has previously been identified as a cancer-related gene. However, there is little research demonstrating an association between VRK1 and ESCC. In this study, we show that VRK1 is overexpressed in ESCC primary tumor samples and cell lines. VRK1 expression was significantly correlated with clinical characteristics and predicted poor outcomes in ESCC patients. Functionally, knockdown of VRK1 inhibited ESCC cell proliferation, survival, migration and invasion; conversely, VRK1 overexpression produced the opposite effects. Furthermore, we found that up-regulation of VRK1 promoted cisplatin (CDDP) resistan

SUBMITTER: Liu ZC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5630360 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature