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Updated: Aug 20, 2025

Induction and Analysis of Epithelial to Mesenchymal Transition
Published on: August 27, 2013
KTN1-AS1, a SOX2-mediated lncRNA, activates epithelial-mesenchymal transition process in esophageal squamous cell
Liying Chen1, Juntao Lu1, Tongxin Xu1
1Laboratory of Pathology, Hebei Cancer Institute, The Fourth Hospital of Hebei Medical University, Jiankang Road 12, Shijiazhuang, 050011, Hebei, China.
Abstract:
Kinectin 1 antisense RNA 1 (KTN1-AS1), a long non-coding RNA (lncRNA), has been proved to have tumor-promoting properties and its expression is enhanced in several human tumors. However, the role of KTN1-AS1 in the pathogenesis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unknown. This study aimed to investigate the expression status, functional roles, and molecular mechanisms of KTN1-AS1 in the development of ESCC. Considerable upregulation of KTN1-AS1 was confirmed in esophageal cancer cells and ESCC tissues and its expression was associated with TNM stage, pathological differentiation, and lymph node metastasis. SOX2 directly activated transcription of KTN1-AS1, and overexpression of KTN1-AS1 facilitated ESCC cells proliferation and invasion in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, KTN1-AS1 could bind to retinoblastoma binding protein 4 (RBBP4) in the nucleus and enhanced its binding with histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), thereby activating the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) process through downregulating E-cadherin expression at the epigenetic level. In conclusion, KTN1-AS1, induced by SOX2, acts as a tumor-promoting gene and may serve as a potential therapeutic and prognostic biomarker for ESCC.
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