Clinical significance of TBX2 in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas and its role in cell migration and invasion.

OBJECTIVE: To explore the role of T-box 2 (TBX2) in esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and Western blot (WB) assays were used to detect the expression level of TBX2 in tissues and cells. Transwell assays were conducted for determination of cell invasion and migration. RESULTS: The results suggested that the TBX2 was upregulated in ESCC tissues. Further, high expression of TBX2 expression was associated with tumor size, differentiation, distant metastasis, and TNM stage. In our in-vitro study, we decreased the expression of TBX2 in ESCC cells by transfection using LipofectamineTM 3000. The results from the transwell assay suggested that the downregulation of TBX2 could significantly suppress cell migration and invasion. Besides, WB results indicated that epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)-related protein expressions were also changed after transfection. CONCLUSIONS: TBX2, as an oncogene, could promote the progress of ESCC by affecting the transfer ability in tumor cells.