Slug is a novel molecular target for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma stem-like cells.

The acquisition of stem-like phenotype is partly attributed to the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). Thus, the activation of factors involved in EMT can be linked to cancer stem cell genesis. However, the underlying mechanisms in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain largely unknown. Herein, we investigate whether slug, one of the major effectors of EMT, affects the stemness of HNSCC cells. We performed in vitro experiments to determine whether slug gene manipulation can influence the stemness phenotypes, including the capacity for self-renewal, expression of putative stemness markers, chemoresistance, and invasion in HNSCC cells. Further, we identified whether Slug knockout attenuates tumorigenicity of HNSCC cells in vivo. Finally, we examined whether prognosis of HNSCC patients after curative treatment may be affected by the level of slug expression. Overexpression of slug promoted self-renewal of HNSCC cells via activation of sphere formation, the expression of stem cell markers, and induction of chemoresistance to cisplatin. Also, slug overexpression increased the migration and invasion of HNSCC cells in vitro and was mainly observed during the invasion in HNSCC xenograft mouse model. By contrast, slug expression knockdown abrogated their self-renewal capacity, stemness-associated gene expression, and cisplatin chemoresistance. Furthermore, high levels of slug expression correlated with poor prognosis of patients with HNSCC. Inhibition of slug expression may represent a novel therapeutic strategy targeting HNSCC stem-like cells.

Moon JH ，Lee SH ，Koo BS ，Kim JM ，Huang S ，Cho JH ，Eun YG ，Shin HA ，Lim YC ... -  《-》

Inhibitor of DNA binding 2 is a novel therapeutic target for stemness of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Bae WJ ，Koo BS ，Lee SH ，Kim JM ，Rho YS ，Lim JY ，Moon JH ，Cho JH ，Lim YC ... -  《-》

Acquisition cancer stemness, mesenchymal transdifferentiation, and chemoresistance properties by chronic exposure of oral epithelial cells to arecoline.

Wang TY ，Peng CY ，Lee SS ，Chou MY ，Yu CC ，Chang YC ... -  《Oncotarget》

SOX2 regulates self-renewal and tumorigenicity of stem-like cells of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Lee SH ，Oh SY ，Do SI ，Lee HJ ，Kang HJ ，Rho YS ，Bae WJ ，Lim YC ... -  《-》

Anterior gradient protein 2 expression in high grade head and neck squamous cell carcinoma correlated with cancer stem cell and epithelial mesenchymal transition.

Ma SR ，Wang WM ，Huang CF ，Zhang WF ，Sun ZJ ... -  《Oncotarget》