Tumor invasion and metastasis is responsible for the poor prognosis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC); therefore, exploring the mechanisms by which malignant cells disseminate, spread and flourish in secondary sites, as well as translating the bench results to clinical practice are in urgent need. Previous reports showed that integrin α6 increases in ESCC specimens and its dysregulated spatial localization correlates positively with the unfavorable outcome of ESCC patients. Here, we clarify that integrin α6 promotes invasion and metastasis of ESCC cells In vitro and in vivo. Mechanistically, decreased integrin α6 attenuates motility of malignant cells partially through deactivating Akt pathway, which is essential for ESCC cells motility. Moreover, integrin α6 serves as a genuine target of miR-92b in suppressing ESCC motility. Our results for the first time describe that miR-92b/integrin α6/Akt axis controls the motility of ESCC, thereby providing a promising diagnosis or therapeutic option.
Keywords: esophageal cancer; integrin α6; metastasis; microRNA-92b.