Cluster of differentiation (CD) 73, encoded by the NT5E gene, plays important enzymatic and non-enzymatic roles in cells. There is growing evidence show that CD73 is a key regulator in the development of tumor. Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is one of the most common cancers in east and southeast Asia. It is urgent to know more about the mechanism of NPC development and find diagnostic markers for the patients. In this research, we carried out western blot, immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR to investigate the expression level of CD73 and found that NPC tissues had higher level of CD73 than normal tissues. We also detected the relationship between its expression level with the clinicopathological features and prognosis of NPC patients. The results showed that CD73 expression was related to the clinical stages, lymph node metastasis and survival state of NPC patients. More importantly, patients with higher expression of CD73 had poorer prognosis. Then, CD73 was knocked down in NPC cells (CNE2 and CNE1), and its effects on cell proliferation and migration were investigated by CCK8, colony formation, Transwell and wound-healing assays. We found that knocking down the expression of CD73 in NPC cells could inhibit cells malignant phenotype. Collectively, CD73 plays important roles in NPC malignant behavior and might act as a novel target for the diagnosis and treatment of NPC.

由NT5E基因编码的分化簇 (CD) 73在细胞中发挥重要的酶促和非酶促作用。越来越多的证据表明CD73是肿瘤发生发展的关键调节因子。鼻咽癌（NPC）是东亚和东南亚最常见的癌症之一。迫切需要更多地了解鼻咽癌的发生机制并找到适合患者的诊断标志物。在本研究中，我们通过蛋白质印迹、免疫组化和qRT-PCR来研究CD73的表达水平，发现鼻咽癌组织中CD73的水平高于正常组织。我们还检测了其表达水平与鼻咽癌患者临床病理特征和预后的关系。结果显示CD73表达与鼻咽癌患者的临床分期、淋巴结转移及生存状态相关。更重要的是，CD73表达较高的患者预后较差。然后，在NPC细胞（CNE2和CNE1）中敲低CD73，并通过CCK8、集落形成、Transwell和伤口愈合实验研究其对细胞增殖和迁移的影响。我们发现敲低鼻咽癌细胞中CD73的表达可以抑制细胞的恶性表型。总的来说，CD73在鼻咽癌恶性行为中发挥着重要作用，可能作为鼻咽癌诊断和治疗的新靶点。