RIT1 suppresses esophageal squamous cell carcinoma growth and metastasis and predicts good prognosis.

ABSTRACT: Ras-like without CAAX1 (RIT1) protein is a member of Ras family, which plays critical roles in signaling pathways and cellular process regulation. However, the role of RIT1 in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) is unclear. In this study, we found that the expression of RIT1 is downregulated in ESCC compared to corresponding non-tumor tissues. The low-level expression of RIT1 was correlated with poorer prognosis. Then we showed that RIT1 inhibited proliferation, invasion, and migration of ESCC cells, and silencing RIT1 by shRNA promoted tumorigenicity and metastasis in nude mice. We further demonstrated that RIT1 inhibited the malignant behaviors of ESCC through inhibiting the PI3K/AKT and MAPK pathway and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in ESCC cells. Our study also revealed that

SUBMITTER: Feng YF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6197279 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature