Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 22, 2026

Development of Compendium for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma
Published on: April 12, 2024
Overexpression of Plk1 promotes malignant progress in human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
Chunling Zhao1, Lei Gong, Wentong Li
1Basic Medicine Department, Weifang Medical University, 261053 Weifang, Shandong, People's Republic of China. linglinghappy2003@yahoo.com.cn
Purpose:
Plk1, belonging to a family of serine/threonine kinases, is involved in spindle formation and chromosome segregation during mitosis and therefore, in the regulation of cell cycle. Plk1 was found to be overexpressed in various human tumors. In the present work, we investigated the expression of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) to determine whether Plk1 has a role in malignant progress.
Methods:
Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting were performed to define the expressions of Plk1 in ESCC tissues and normal adjacent tissues. Transfection of cells with small interference RNA, growth suppression assay, and Transwell assay were used to determine the potential role of Plk1 in ESCC malignant progress.
Results:
Plk1 was overexpressed in 69.6% of the ESCC tissues. In addition, the extent of Plk1 expression was closely correlated with differentiation grades and invasiveness in ESCC. We also found that the downregulation of endogenous Plk1 in human ESSC cell lines Eca-109 and EC9706 significantly decreased cells proliferation and migrating ability.
Conclusions:
Our results show that Plk1 expression is elevated in ESCC tissues and is associated with differentiation grades and invasiveness in ESCC, indicating that overexpression of Plk1 may play an important role in carcinogenesis and malignant progress of ESCC.
Related Concept Videos
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells
Somatic cells are...
Abnormal Proliferation
Mitogens and the Cell Cycle
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Tumor Progression
Colon cancer is one of the best-documented examples of tumor progression. Early mutation in the APC gene in colon cells causes a small growth on the colon wall called a polyp. With time, this polyp grows into a benign, pre-cancerous tumor. Further...
Barrett Esophagus-I: Introduction
This constant acid exposure transforms the esophagus's pink mucosal lining (stratified squamous epithelium) into a type of lining more similar...
