MCL1 and neoplasm: To evaluate whether suppression of EZH2, MCL-1 and FOS is responsible for the miR-101-mediated tumor suppression, we knocked down these three genes using specific siRNAs in SPAC-1-L and HEC-50 cells, and found that decreased expression of these genes (Figure 4a and b) was able to significantly induce cell apoptosis and senescence (Figure 4c and d, upper panel), possibly accounting for the inhibitory effects of EZH2, MCL-1 and FOS siRNA on EC cell proliferation (Additional file 4: Figure S4).