In Japan and China, esophageal cancer is common and more than 90% of esophageal cancers are squamous cell carcinoma. Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) shows a poor prognosis, but the mechanism of ESCC and target genes for treatment remains unclear. We searched for genes related to ESCC, and identified a novel gene, FLJ11021, which was designated arginine/serine-rich coiled-coil 2 (RSRC2). We sought to determine the role of RSRC2 in the proliferation of esophageal cell lines and to examine the relationship between RSRC2 and clinicopathologic factors and ESCC prognosis. Expression of RSRC2 was quantified by real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in 70 primary ESCCs and paired noncancerous esophageal mucosa. To determine the role of RSRC2 in ESCC cell proliferation, we used vector-based transfection and small interfering RNA methods. Our results show that RSRC2mRNA levels in all ESCC cell lines (TE1-15, excluding TE7) were lower than those in a human esophageal squamous epithelial cell line (Het-1A). Cell proliferation of an ESCC cell line was inhibited by overexpression of RSRC2, while reduced expression was accompanied by tumor progression. RSRC2 expression levels were significantly correlated with depth of invasion, lymph node metastasis, lymphatic invasion and vascular invasion. Moreover, ESCC patients with low RSRC2mRNA expression had significantly shorter post-operative survival time than those with high expression. In vitro study revealed that RSRC2 might play a role in cell proliferation. Our study demonstrated that RSRC2 expression may be a novel tumor suppressor of esophageal cancer cell growth and a prognostic factor in ESCC.

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