N-cadherin participated in invasion and metastasis of human esophageal squamous cell carcinoma via taking part in the formation of vasculogenic mimicry

Vasculogenic mimicry (VM) refers to the unique ability of highly aggressive tumor cells to mimic the pattern of embryonic vasculogenic networks, and the presence of VM correlates to an increased risk of metastasis and poor clinical outcome of cancers. Several key molecules, including N-cadherin, have been implicated in VM. However, the role of N-cadherin in the formation of VM in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) had not been elucidated. In this study, firstly we aimed to identify VM patterns in ESCC tissues and to explore their clinical significance. VM was present in 12 out of 56 samples, and ESCC with lymph node metastasis had a higher incidence of VM than that without lymph node metastasis. More importantly, VM channels were associated with the expression of N-cadherin in ESCC tissues. In order to further explore the role of N-cadherin in VM formation and invasion and metastasis in ESCC, secondly, we silenced the expression of N-cadherin with small hairpin RNA in ESCC cell line KYSE-70; herein, we showed that KYSE-70 cells with N-cadherin silencing lost not only the capacity to form tube-like structures on collagen (VM) but also the invasion, metastasis and proliferation ability in KYSE-70 cells in vitro. Taken together, antivascular therapies targeting tumor cell VM may be an effective approach to the treatment of patients with highly metastatic ESCC.