SNAI2 Attenuated the Stem-like Phenotype by Reducing the Expansion of EPCAM^high Cells in Cervical Cancer Cells

SNAI2 (Snai2) is a zinc-finger transcriptional repressor that belongs to the Snail family. The accumulated evidence suggests that SNAI2 exhibits biphasic effects on regulating a stem-like phenotype in various types of cells, both normal and malignant. In this study, by exogenously expressing SNAI2 in SiHa cells, SNAI2 exhibited the capacity to inhibit a stem-like phenotype in cervical cancer cells. The SNAI2-overexpressing cells inhibited cell growth, tumorsphere formation, tumor growth, enhanced sensitivity to cisplatin, reduced stem cell-related factors’ expression, and lowered tumor initiating frequency. In addition, the EPCAM^high cells sorted from SiHa cells exhibited an enhanced capacity to maintain a stem-like phenotype. Further study demonstrated that the trans-suppression of EPCAM expression by SNAI2 led to blockage of the nuclear translocation of β-catenin, as well as reduction in SOX2 and c-Myc expression in SiHa and HeLa cells, but induction in SNAI2 knockdown cells (CaSki), which would be responsible for the attenuation of the stem-like phenotype in cervical cancer cells mediated by SNAI2. All of these results demonstrated that SNAI2 could attenuate the stem-like phenotype in cervical cancer cells through the EPCAM/β-catenin axis.