Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 9 pp 3791—3806

Figure 5. QKI is a direct target of miR-497, and QKI expression levels were correlated with tumor progression in EC samples. (A) Overexpression of miR-497 inhibited the luciferase activity of QKI 3’ UTR reporter. (B) Overexpression of miR-497 greatly inhibited protein expression levels of QKI. (C) The expression levels of QKI were significantly upregulated in non-paired and paired EC tissues compared to the normal ones. (D) KEGG and GO (MF) analysis of esophageal cancer tissues showed that QKI is associated with cell proliferation and cell adhesion signal pathways. (E) GSEA analysis of esophageal cancer tissues conveyed that QKI expression levels were positively correlated with cell proliferation and metastasis in EC tissues. Data were representative of 3 independent experiments. ** indicated significant difference at p<0.01.