Deleted in Esophageal Cancer 1(DEC1) is down-regulated and contributes to migration in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell lines.

Background: Previous studies have shown that the expression of Deleted in Esophageal Cancer 1 (DEC1) is significantly reduced in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. Patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) often develop esophageal carcinomas.

Materials And Methods: We analyzed the expression of DEC1 and histone modifications in HNSCC cell lines. The motility and invasive ability of the HNSCC cell lines were also studied.

Results: Of 18 cell lines, 12 (66.7%) showed down-regulation of DEC1. Chromatin immunoprecipitation assays indicated that H3 K27 trimethylation levels in the DEC1-down-regulated cell lines were greater than that in the DEC1-expressed cell lines. Migration assays showed that the DEC1-down-regulated cell lines tended to be more motile than the DEC1-expressed cell lines.

Conclusion: DEC1 is down-regulated and tends to contribute to the migration ability of HNSCC cell lines. In addition, H3 K27 trimethylation potentially plays an important role in the regulation of DEC1 expression.