Abstract: Objective The effects of zinc finger E-box-binding protein 1(ZEB1) on cell proliferation, invasion and metastasis of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) and its mechanism. 
Methods Human ESCC cell line EC9706 was selected, and the ZEB1 shRNA was used to transfect EC9706 cells to knock out ZEB1 expression. The cell viability was determined by CCK8 assay. The ability of cell invasion and migration was detected by scratch test. The expression of ZEB1 shRNA after transfection was detected by Real-Time Quantitative PCR(RT-qPCR). Western blot(WB) was used to determine the protein expressions of extracellular regulated protein kinase(ERK) 1/2, p-ERK1/2, E-cadherin and N-cadherin. 
Results As compared with the control group, down-regulated ZEB1 expression inhibited the cell viability of EC9706 cells as well as invasion and metastasis ability of ESCC（P＜0.05）. Decreased ZEB1 expression reduced the ERK1/2 activation, increased the expression of E-cadherin, and inhibited the expression of N-cadherin（P＜0.05）. 
Conclusion The inhibition effects of down-regulated expression of ZEB1 on the proliferation, invasion and metastasis of ESCC cells might be related to the inhibition of ERK1/2 activation and regulation of E-cadherin and N-cadherin. 

Key words: esophageal neoplasms, carcinoma, squamous cell, neoplasm invasiveness