Esophageal
squamous cell carcinomas (ESCCs) as well as
adenocarcinomas (EACs) were developed in rat duodenal contents reflux models (reflux model). The present study aimed to shed light on the mechanism by which
bile acid stimulation causes
cancer onset and progression. Metabolomics analyses were performed on samples of neoplastic and nonneoplastic tissues from reflux models, and K14D, cultivated from a nonmetastatic, primary ESCC, and ESCC-DR, established from a metastatic thoracic lesion. ESCC-DRtca2M was prepared by treating ESCC-DR cells with
taurocholic acid (TCA) to accelerate
cancer progression. The lines were subjected to comprehensive genomic analyses. In addition,
protein expression levels of
glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD),
nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) (p65) and O-linked
N-Acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) were compared among lines.
Cancers developed in the reflux models exhibited greater
hexosamine biosynthesis pathway (HBP) activation compared with the nonneoplastic tissues. Expression of
O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) increased considerably in both ESCC and EAC compared with nonneoplastic squamous epithelium. Conversely, cell line-based experiments revealed the greater activation of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) at higher degrees of
malignancy. G6PD overexpression in response to TCA exposure was observed. Both NF-κB (p65) and O-GlcNAc were expressed more highly in ESCC-DRtca2M than in the other cell lines. Moreover, ESCC-DRtca2M cells had additional
chromosomal abnormalities in excess of ESCC-DR cells. Overall,
glucose metabolism was upregulated in both
esophageal cancer tissue and cell lines. While
bile acids are not mutagenic, chronic exposure seems to trigger NF-κB(p65) activation, potentially inducing genetic mutations as well as facilitating
carcinogenesis and
cancer progression.
Glucose metabolism was upregulated in both
esophageal cancer tissue and cell lines, and the HBP was activated in the former. The cell line-based experiments demonstrated upregulation of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) at higher degrees of
malignancy. While
bile acids are not mutagenic, chronic exposure seems to trigger G6PD overexpression and NF-κB (p65) activation, potentially inducing genetic mutations as well as facilitating
carcinogenesis and
cancer progression.