Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CANCER
Volume 130, Issue 10, Pages 2249-2258Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/ijc.26226
Keywords
epithelial-mesenchymal transition; E-cadherin; Snai2; squamous cell carcinoma
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Grant of China [81072223, 30700952]
- NIH PHS [CA135992, CA139596, DE014847]
- UIC CCTS [UL1RR029879]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The members of the Snail superfamily of zinc-finger transcription factors, including Snai1 and Snai2, are involved in essential biological processes, such as epithelialmesenchymal transition (EMT). Although Snai1 has been investigated in a number of cancers, our knowledge on Snai2 and its role(s) in squamous cell carcinoma of oral tongue (SCCOT) is limited. In this study, we confirmed the previous observation that over-expression of Snai2 is a frequent event in SCCOT. We further demonstrated that Snai2 over-expression is associated with lymph node metastasis in two independent SCCOT patient cohorts (total n = 129). Statistical analysis revealed that Snai2 over-expression was correlated with reduced overall survival. Furthermore, over-expression of Snai2 was correlated with reduced E-cadherin expression and enhanced Vimentin expression, suggesting a functional role of Snai2 in EMT. These observations were confirmed in vitro, in which knockdown of Snai2 induced a switch from a mesenchymal-like morphology to an epithelial-like morphology in SCCOT cell lines, and suppressed the cell invasion and migration. In contrast, ectopic transfection of Snai2 led to enhanced cell invasion and migration. Furthermore, Snai2 knockdown attenuated TGF beta 1-induced EMT in SCCOT cell lines. Taken together, these data suggest that Snai2 plays major roles in EMT and the progression of SCCOT and may serve as a therapeutic target for patients at risk of metastasis.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available