Snail1 mediates hypoxia-induced melanoma progression

Tumor hypoxia is a known adverse prognostic factor, and the hypoxic dermal microenvironment participates in melanomagenesis. High levels of hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) expression in melanoma cells, particularly HIF-2α, is associated with poor prognosis. The mechanism underlying the effect of hypoxia on melanoma progression, however, is not fully understood. We report evidence that the effects of hypoxia on melanoma cells are mediated through activation of Snail1. Hypoxia increased melanoma cell migration and drug resistance, and these changes were accompanied by increased Snail1 and decreased E-cadherin expression. Snail1 expression was regulated by HIF-2α in melanoma. Snail1 overexpression led to more aggressive tumor phenotypes and features associated with stem-like melanoma cells in vitro and increased metastatic capacity in vivo. In addition, we found that knockdown of endogenous Snail1 reduced melanoma proliferation and migratory capacity. Snail1 knockdown also prevented melanoma metastasis in vivo. In summary, hypoxia up-regulates Snail1 expression and leads to increased metastatic capacity and drug resistance in melanoma cells. Our findings support that the effects of hypoxia on melanoma are mediated through Snail1 gene activation and suggest that Snail1 is a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of melanoma.     

Snail plays an oncogenic role in glioblastoma by promoting epithelial mesenchymal transition

Background: The factors affecting glioblastoma progression are of great clinical importance since dismal outcomes have been observed for glioblastoma patients. The Snail gene is known to coordinate the regulation of tumor progression in diverse tumors through induction of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT); however, its role in glioblastoma is still uncertain. Therefore, we aimed to further define its role in vitro. Methods and results: The small interfering RNA (siRNA) technique was employed to knock down Snail expression in three glioblastoma cell lines (KNS42, U87, and U373). Specific inhibition of Snail expression increased E-cadherin expression but decreased vimentin expression in all cell lines. In addition, inhibition of the expression of Snail significantly reduced the proliferation, viability, invasion, and migration of glioblastoma cells as well as increased the number of cells in the G1 phase. Conclusions: Knockdown of Snail suppresses the proliferation, viability, migration, and invasion of cells as well as inhibits cell cycle progression by promoting EMT induction. The findings suggest that expression of this gene facilitates glioblastoma progression. Therefore, these results indicate the clinical significance of Snail for use as a potential therapeutic target for glioblastoma.     

Slug is overexpressed in gastric carcinomas and may act synergistically with SIP1 and Snail in the down-regulation of E-cadherin

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) involving down-regulation of E-cadherin is known to play an important role in tumour progression. The aim of our study was to investigate the mRNA expression of two EMT regulators-Slug and E12/E47-in primary human gastric carcinomas and to compare this with the expression of E-cadherin and other EMT regulators (Snail, Twist, and SIP1). We studied a series of 59 gastric carcinomas by real-time quantitative RT-PCR in formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues. Thirty-four cases (58%) showed Slug up-regulation in the tumour; reduced or negative expression of E-cadherin was present in 24 of these (71%, p<0.0001). Twenty-one cases (36%) showed E12/E47 up-regulation that was not significantly associated with E-cadherin down-regulation (p=0.5734). Slug up-regulation accompanied by E-cadherin down-regulation correlated with the presence of distant metastases (p=0.0029) and with advanced pTNM stages (p=0.0424). A statistically significant association was found between Slug up-regulation and the expression of SIP1 in intestinal (p=0.0014) and Snail in diffuse (p=0.0067) carcinomas. We present the first study integrating the analysis of several EMT regulators in primary gastric carcinomas and conclude that Slug up-regulation is associated with E-cadherin down-regulation in diffuse and intestinal-type gastric carcinoma, and that this effect could be complemented by the presence of other EMT regulators.     

Down-regulating ribonuclease inhibitor enhances metastasis of bladder cancer cells through regulating epithelial–mesenchymal transition and ILK signaling pathway

Accumulating evidences implicate that ribonuclease inhibitor (RI) plays a suppressing role in cancer development. However, the mechanisms underlying antitumor of RI remain largely unknown. Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is regarded as a key event in tumor progression. The reports have demonstrated that EMT was implicated in metastasis of bladder cancer. Therefore, we suppose that RI might involve regulating EMT of bladder cancer. Here bladder cancer T24 cells were transfected with pGensil-1-siRNA-RI vectors. HE staining, living cell observation, Phalloidine-FITC staining of microfilament, cell adhesion, scratch migration, and Matrigel invasion were examined respectively. RI expression and colocalization with ILK were detected using confocal microscope. Proteins associated with EMT were determined with Western blotting and immunohistochemistry in vivo and in vitro. Effects of RI expression on tumor growth, metastasis and EMT related proteins in BALB/C nude mouse and clinical human bladder cancer specimens were valued with histological, immunohistochemical and immunofluorescent examination respectively. We demonstrated that down-regulating RI increased cell proliferation, migration and invasion, changed cell morphology and adhesion, and rearranged cytoskeleton by inducing EMT and ILK signaling pathway in bladder cancer cells. In addition, we showed that down-regulating RI promoted tumorigenesis and metastasis of bladder cancer in vivo. Finally, we found that bladder cancer with invasive capability had higher Vimentin, Snail, Slug and Twist as well as lower E-cadherin and RI expression in clinical human specimens. Our results suggest that RI could play a novel role in inhibiting metastasis of bladder through regulating EMT and ILK signaling pathway.     

Cyclooxygenase-2 Expression Is Related to the Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Colon Cancers

Purpose

Down-regulation of E-cadherin is a hallmark of the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT progression in cancer cells is associated with the loss of certain epithelial markers and the acquisition of a mesenchymal phenotype, as well as migratory activities. Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) expression is associated with tumor invasion and metastasis in colon cancer. This study investigated the relationship between E-cadherin and COX-2 in colon cancer cells and human colon tumors.

Materials and Methods

Colon cancer cell lines and immunohistochemistry were used.

Results

E-cadherin expression was inversely related to the expressions of COX-2 and Snail in colon cancer cells. Ectopic expression of COX-2 or Snail reduced E-cadherin and induced a scattered, flattened phenotype with few intercellular contacts in colon cancer cells. Treatment of cancer cells with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate increased the expressions of COX-2 and Snail, decreased 15-hydroxyprostaglandin dehydrogenase expression, and increased the cells'' motility. In addition, exposure to prostaglandin E₂ increased Snail expression and cell motility, and decreased E-cadherin expression. Membranous E-cadherin expression was lower in adenomas and cancers than in the adjacent, non-neoplastic epithelium. In contrast, the expressions of Snail and COX-2 were higher in cancers than in normal tissues and adenomas. The expressions of COX-2 and Snail increased in areas with abnormal E-cadherin expression. Moreover, COX-2 expression was related to higher tumor stages and was significantly higher in nodal metastatic lesions than primary cancers.

Conclusion

This study suggests that COX-2 may have a role in tumor metastasis via EMT.     

Over-expression of integrin-linked kinase correlates with aberrant expression of Snail, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in oral squamous cell carcinoma: implications in tumor progression and metastasis

Integrin-linked kinase (ILK), an intracellular protein with serine/threonine protein kinase activities, plays a key role in integrin mediated cell-excellular matrix interactions, regulating cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation, and migration. ILK has been implicated in the development and progression in several malignancies. However, the role of ILK and ILK-mediated epithelial?Cmensenchymal transition (EMT) in the progression of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not been well understood. Here, by immunohistochemistry, we studied the expression of ILK, Snail, E-cadherin and N-cadherin in 98 primary OSCC specimens and analyzed their correlations with clinicopathologic profiles and clinical outcome. We also investigated the expression of ILK in 42 corresponding lymph node metastases. Positive expression of ILK protein was detected in 87.8?% of the primary tumors and 100?% of metastatic lesions. Increased ILK expression was correlated strongly with enhanced tumor invasion, higher tumor grade, advanced clinical stage, positive lymph node status and increased risk of recurrence. Higher ILK expression was also observed in lymph node metastases in comparison with the corresponding primary tumor. Moreover, up-regulation of Snail and N-cadherin and down-regulation of E-cadherin correlated significantly with both ILK over-expression and tumor invasion. Patients with higher ILK expression exhibited shorter disease-free survival while those with absent E-cadherin expression exhibited shorter overall and disease-free survival. Taken together, our results suggest that ILK may have an important role in progression and metastasis of OSCC, possibly through EMT involving up-regulation of Snail and consequent aberrant expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin. ILK should be considered as a critical prognostic indicator for patients with OSCC.     

上皮性卵巢癌中PARP-1的表达及其与EMT的关系

 目的: 探讨上皮性卵巢癌(epithelial ovarian cancer,EOC)中聚腺苷二磷酸核糖聚合酶-1[poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase-1,PARP-1]的表达及其与上皮-间质转化(epithelial-mesenchymal transition,EMT)的关系。方法: 免疫组化、实时荧光定量PCR法检测EOC和良性卵巢肿瘤组织中PARP-1、E-钙黏蛋白(E-cadherin)、波形蛋白(vimentin)和转录调控因子Snail的表达;Western blotting法检测高效PARP-1抑制剂PJ34处理SKOV3细胞后PARP-1、E-cadherin、vimentin和Snail蛋白的表达。结果: PARP-1、vimentin和Snail在EOC中阳性表达率高于良性卵巢肿瘤组织,而E-cadherin则相反,差异均有统计学显著性(P<0.05)。PARP-1、E-cadherin、vimentin和Snail与EOC的病理分级、临床分期和有无淋巴结转移有关(P<0.05),与年龄和病理类型无关。E-cadherin表达与PARP-1表达呈负相关(P<0.05),vimentin、Snail表达与PARP-1表达呈正相关(P<0.05)。EOC中PARP-1、vimentin和Snail mRNA的相对表达量高于良性卵巢肿瘤组织,E-cadherin mRNA的相对表达量低于良性卵巢肿瘤组织,差异均具有统计学显著性(P<0.05)。PJ34处理SKOV3细胞后,PARP-1、vimentin和Snail的蛋白水平明显下降,E-cadherin的蛋白水平显著提高,差异有统计学显著性(P<0.05)。结论: PARP-1通过调控E-cadherin、vimentin和Snail的表达促进EOC上皮间质转化。PARP-1及其参与的上皮-间质转化在EOC进展中发挥重要作用。