Abstract: Objective:?To investigate the effect of HSF1 in cancer-associated fibroblast (CAFs) on the growth and metastasis of subcutaneous xenotransplanted tumor of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cell in nude mice. Methods:?Fibroblasts of OSCC and adjacent normal tissues were identified by Western-blot to obtain CAFs. CAFs-shHSF1 cells and control CAFs-shNC cells were constructed by lentivirus knockdown HSF1 in CAFs. The tumor cells Cal27 were mixed respectively with CAFs-shHSF1 cells and CAFs-shNC cells at 1:1 and inoculated into the right axilla of nude mice, and the formation and growth of the xenografted tumor were observed. The difference of tumor volume and weight between the two groups was statistically analyzed. HE staining and immunohistochemical staining were used to verify the metastasis and epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) of the xenografted tumor between the two groups. Results:?The protein abundance of α-SMA, FAP and FSP-1, the markers of CAFs, was significantly higher than those of normal fibroblasts. The tumor volume in the experimental group was significantly lower than that in the control group (P＜0.05), and there was no significant difference in body weight between the two groups (P＞0.05). Meanwhile, there was liver metastasis in both the experimental group and the control group, and the number of liver metastasis in the experimental group was less than that in the control group (P＜0.05).. Immunohistochemical staining data showed that α-SMA and Vimentin staining decreased and E-cadherin did not change significantly in Cal27+CAFs-shHSF1 group. Conclusions:?Knockdown of HSF1 in CAFs can significantly inhibit the growth and metastasis of OSCC in nude mice, which may play a role through partial EMT mechanism.

Key words: HSF1, CAFs, oral squamous cell carcinoma, subcutaneous tumor formation in nude mice.