• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.944-952
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• 2009

Purpose : To investigate the effects of angiotensin II inhibition on the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the developing kidney, we tested the expression of EMT markers and nestin in angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor-treated kidneys. Methods : Newborn rat pups were treated with enalapril (30 mg/kg/d) or a vehicle for 7 days. Immunohistochemistry for the expression of ${\alpha}$-smooth muscle actin (SMA), E-cadherin, vimentin, and nestin were performed. The number of positively-stained cells was determined under 100 magnification in 10 random fields. Results : In the enalapril-treated group, ${\alpha}SMA-positive$ cells were strongly expressed in the dilated tubular epithelial cells. The number of ${\alpha}SMA-positive$ cells in the enalapril-treated group increased in both the renal cortex and medulla, compared to the control group (P<0.05). The expression of E-cadherin-positive cells was dramatically reduced in the cortical and medullary tubular epithelial cells in the enalapril-treated group (P<0.05). The number of vimentin- and nestin-positive cells in the cortex was not different in comparisons between the two groups; however, their expression increased in the medullary tubulointerstitial cells in the enalapril-treated group (P<0.05). Conclusion : Our results show that ACE inhibition in the developing kidney increases the renal EMT by up-regulating ${\alpha}SMA$ and down-regulating E-cadherin. Enalapril treatment was associated with increased expression of vimentin and nestin in the renal medulla, suggesting that renal medullary changes during the EMT might be more prominent, and ACE inhibition might differentially modulate the expression of EMT markers in the developing rat kidney.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.685-689
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• 2013

Objective: To study the effects of down-regulation of HDAC6 expression on proliferation, cell cycling and migration of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) cells and related molecular mechanisms. Methods: ESCC cell line EC9706 cells were randomly divided into untreated (with no transfection), control siRNA (transfected with control siRNA) and HDAC6 siRNA (transfected with HDAC6 small interfering RNA) groups. Effects of HDAC6 siRNA interference on expression of HDAC6 mRNA and protein in EC9706 cells were investigated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry methods. Effects of down-regulation of HDAC6 expression on cell proliferation, cell cycle, and cell migration were studied using a CCK-8 kit, flow cytometry and Boyden chambers, respectively. Changes of mRNA and protein expression levels of cell cycle related factor (p21) and cell migration related factor (E-cadherin) were investigated by semi-quantitative RT-PCR and Western blotting methods. Results: After transfection of HDAC6 siRNA, the expression of HDAC6 mRNA and protein in EC9706 cells was significantly downregulated. In the HDAC6 siRNA group, cell proliferation was markedly inhibited, the percentage of cells in G0/G1 phase evidently increased and the percentage of cells in S phase decreased, and the number of migrating cells significantly and obviously decreased. The mRNA and protein expression levels of p21 and E-cadherin in the HDAC6 siRNA group were significantly higher than those in the untreated group and the control siRNA group, respectively. Conclusions: HDAC6 siRNA can effectively downregulate the expression of HDAC6 mRNA and protein in EC9706 cells. Down-regulation of HDAC6 expression can obviously inhibit cell proliferation, arrest cell cycling in the G0/G1 phase and reduce cell migration. The latter two functions may be closely related with the elevation of mRNA and protein expression of p21 and E-cadherin.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.9
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• pp.4019-4023
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• 2014

Metformin has been shown to be useful in reducing insulin resistance by restoring sensitivity. Recent evidence suggests that metformin might also possess anti-tumour activity. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cisplatin combined with metformin on the proliferation, invasion and migration of HNE1/DDP human nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) cells, and to provide a new target for treating metastasis. The MTT assay was used to assess viability of HNE1/DDP cells after exposure to different concentrations of 2, 5-diaminopyrimidine-4, 6-diol (DDP; 2, 4, 8, 16, and $32{\mu}mol{\cdot}L^{-1}$), metformin (5, 10, 15, 20, and $25{\mu}mol{\cdot}L^{-1}$), and $4{\mu}mol{\cdot}L^{-1}$ of DDP combined with metformin. Wound healing and transwell migration assays were performed to assess cell migration and invasion, and expression of E-cadherin and MMP-9 was detected using Western blotting. MTT assay results showed that DDP could inhibit the proliferation of HNE1/DDP cells in a time- and concentration-dependent manner, with an IC50 of $32.0{\mu}mol{\cdot}L^{-1}$ at 24 h (P < 0.05), whereas low concentrations of DDP had almost no inhibitory effects on cell invasion and migration. DDP combined with metformin significantly inhibited cell invasion and migration. In addition, genes related to migration and invasion, such as those of E-cadherin and MMP-9, showed differential expression in the NPC cell line HNE1/DDP. In the present study, with an increasing concentration of metformin, the expression of MMP-9 was downregulated whereas that of E-cadherin was significantly upregulated. Taken together, our results show that cisplatin combined with metformin has effects on proliferation, invasion, and migration of human NPC cells.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.135-140
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• 2008

Loss of E-cadherin (E-cad) expression has been found in multiple cancers and is postulated to facilitate tumor cell dissociation and metastais. Promotor methylation may provides an alternative pathway for loss of gene function. This study evaluated the role of hypermethylation in the down-regulation of E-cad in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). We examined the E-cad expression by immunohistochemical staining and detected methylation status by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP) in 20 OSCC tissues. Overally, 12 (60%) cases of hypermethylation of E-cad were detected and we found there were no correlation between methylation and age, histologic grade, lympn node metastasis, tumor size and clinical stage. However, Eleven (73.3%) of 15 samples which was negative for E-cad staining showed hypermethylation of E-cad promotor region. On the other hand, only one (20%) of 5 E-cad positive sample was observed with methylated status. The underexpression of E-cad was found to be related to promotor hypermethylation (p=0.035). In conclusion, we suggest that hypermethylation play a role in inactivation of E-cad gene and may be a appreciable biomarker for diagnosis and treatment of OSCC.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.2655-2660
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• 2016

Background: Prostate cancer is the second most common male cancer and remains a leading cause of cancer death worldwide. Heterogeneity regarding recurrence, tumor progression and therapeutic response reflects the inadequacy of traditional prognostic factors and underlies interest in new genetic and molecular markers. In this work, we studied the prognostic value of the expression of 9 proteins, Ki-67, p53, Bcl-2, PSA, HER2, E-cadherin, $p21^{WAF1/Cip1}$, $p27^{Kip1}$ and $p16^{ink4a}$ in prostate cancer. Materials and Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of 50 prostate cancers diagnosed in Pathology Department of Farhet Hached Hospital, Sousse, Tunisia, during a period of 12 months. Clinico-pathological data and survival were investigated. Protein expression was analyzed by immunohistochemistry on archived material. Results: Expression or over-expression of Ki-67, p53, Bcl-2, PSA, HER2, E-Cadherin, $p21^{WAF1/Cip1}$, $p27^{Kip1}$ and $p16^{ink4a}$ was observed in 68%, 24%, 32%, 78%, 12%, 90%, 20%, 44% and 56% of cases, respectively. Overall five-year survival was 68%. A statistically significant correlation was observed between death occurrence and advanced age (p=0.018), degree of tumor differentiation (p=0.0001), perineural invasion (p=0.016) and metastasis occurrence (p=0.05). Death occurrence was significantly correlated with the expression of p53 (p=0.007), Bcl-2 (p=0.02), Ki-67 (p=0.05) and $p27^{Kip1}$ (p=0.04). Conclusions: The p53, Bcl-2, Ki-67 and $p27^{Kip1}$ proteins may be useful additional prognostic markers for prostate cancer. The use of these proteins in clinical practice can improve prognosis prediction, disease screening and treatment response of prostatic cancer.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.21-29
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• 2017

Schistosoma haematobium is a biocarcinogen of human urinary bladder (UB). The present study investigated developing UB cancer mouse model by injecting S. haematobium eggs into the bladder wall and introduction of chemical carcinogens. Histopathological findings showed mild hyperplasia to epithelial vacuolar change, and high grade dysplasia. Squamous metaplasia was observed in the S. haematobium eggs+NDMA group at week 12 but not in other groups. Immunohistochemistry revealed significantly high expression of Ki-67 in urothelial epithelial cells of the S. haematobium eggs+BBN group at week 20. The qRT-PCR showed high expression of p53 gene in S. haematobium eggs group at week 4 and S. haematobium eggs+BBN group at week 20. E-cadherin and vimentin showed contrasting expression in S. haematobium eggs+BBN group. Such inverse expression of E-cadherin and vimentin may indicate epithelial mesenchymal transition in the UB tissue. In conclusion, S. haematobium eggs and nitrosamines may transform UB cells into squamous metaplasia and dysplasia in correlation with increased expression of Ki-67. Marked decrease in E-cadherin and increase in p53 and vimentin expressions may support the transformation. The present study introduces a promising modified animal model for UB cancer study using S. haematobium eggs.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.1349-1353
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• 2012

Increasing evidence has revealed that thy-1 was a potential stem cell marker of liver cancer, but no data have been shown on how thy-1 regulates the pathophysiology of liver cancer, such as proliferation, apoptosis, invasion and migration. We previously demonstrated that thy-1 was expressed in about 1% of hepg2 cells, thy-1+hepg2 cells, but not thy-1-, demonstrating high tumorigenesis on inoculation $0.5{\times}10^5$ cells per BACA/LA mouse after 2 months. In the present study, our results showed that higher expression of thy-1 occurs in 72% (36/50 cases) of neoplastic hepatic tissues as compared to 40% (20/50 cases) of control tissues, and the expression of thy-1 is higher in poorly differentiated liver tumors than in the well-differentiated ones. In addition, thy-1 expression was detected in 85% of blood samples from liver cancer patients, but none in normal subjects or patients with cirrhosis or hepatitis. There was a significant negative correlation between thy-1expression and E-cadherin expression (a marker of invasion and migraton), but not between thy-1 expression and AFP expression in all the liver cancer and blood samples. We further investigated the relationship between thy-1 and E-cadherin in liver cancer hepg2 cell line which was transfected with pReceiver-M29/thy-1 eukaryotic expression vector followed by aspirin treatment. Lower expression of E-cadherin but higher expressions of thy-1 were detected in hepg2 cells transfected with pReceiver-M29/thy-1. Taken together, our study suggested that thy-1 probably regulates liver cancer invasion and migration.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.83-89
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• 2017

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is involved in not only cancer development and metastasis but also non-cancerous conditions. Hypoxia is one of the proposed critical factors contributing to formation of chronic rhinosinusitis or nasal polyposis. Wheatgrass (Triticum aestivum) has antioxidant, anti-aging, and anti-inflammatory effects. In this study, we analyzed whether wheatgrass has an inhibitory effect on the EMT process in airway epithelial cells. MATERIALS/METHODS: A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells were incubated in hypoxic conditions ($CO_2$ 5%/$O_2$ 1%) for 24 h in the presence of different concentrations of wheatgrass extract (50, 75, 100, and $150{\mu}g/mL$) and changes in expression of epithelial or mesenchymal markers were evaluated by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence. Accordingly, associated EMT-related transcriptional factors, Snail and Smad, were also evaluated. RESULTS: Hypoxia increased expression of N-cadherin and reduced expression of E-cadherin. Mechanistically, E-cadherin levels were recovered during hypoxia by silencing hypoxia inducible factor (HIF)-$1{\alpha}$ or administering wheatgrass extract. Wheatgrass inhibited the hypoxia-mediated EMT by reducing the expression of phosphorylated Smad3 (pSmad3) and Snail. It suppressed the hypoxia-mediated EMT processes of airway epithelial cells via HIF-$1{\alpha}$ and the pSmad3 signaling pathway. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that wheatgrass has potential as a therapeutic or supplementary agent for HIF-1-related diseases.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.251-258
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• 2012

Objectives: The purpose of this paper was to elucidate the potential methylation levels of adjacent normal and cancer tissues by comparing them with normal colorectal tissues, and to describe the correlations between the methylation and clinical parameters in Korean colorectal cancer (CRC) patients. Methods: Hypermethylation profiles of nine genes (RASSF1, APC, $p16^{INK4a}$, Twist1, E-cadherin, TIMP3, Smad4, COX2, and ABCB1) were examined with 100 sets of cancer tissues and 14 normal colorectal tissues. We determined the hypermethylation at a given level by a percent of methylation ratio value of 10 using quantitative methylation real-time polymerase chain reaction. Results: Nine genes' hypermethylation levels in Korean CRC patient tissues were increased more higher than normal colorectal tissues. However, the amounts of $p16^{INK4a}$ and E-cadherin gene hypermethylation in normal and CRC tissues were not significantly different nor did TIMP3 gene hypermethylation in adjacent normal and cancer tissues differ significantly. The hypermethylation of TIMP3, Ecadherin, ABCB1, and COX2 genes among other genes were abundantly found in normal colorectal tissues. The hypermethylation of nine genes' methylation in cancer tissues was not significantly associated with any clinical parameters. In Cohen's kappa test, it was moderately observed that RASSF1 was related with E-cadherin, and Smad4 with ABCB1 and COX2. Conclusions: This study provides evidence for different hypermethylation patterns of cancer-associated genes in normal and CRC tissues, which may serve as useful information on CRC cancer progression.

• Animal Bioscience
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.989-998
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• 2022

Objective: This study investigated the effects of intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) during late pregnancy on the cell growth, proliferation, and differentiation in ovine fetal thymuses. Methods: Eighteen time-mated Mongolian ewes with singleton fetuses were allocated to three groups at d 90 of pregnancy: restricted group 1 (RG1, 0.18 MJ ME/body weight [BW]^0.75/d, n = 6), restricted group 2 (RG2, 0.33 MJ ME/BW^0.75/d, n = 6) and control group (CG, ad libitum, 0.67 MJ ME/BW^0.75/d, n = 6). Fetuses were recovered at slaughter on d 140. Results: The G0/G1 phase cell number in fetal thymus of the RG1 group was increased but the proliferation index and the expression of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) were reduced compared with the CG group (p<0.05). Fetuses in the RG1 group exhibited decreased growth hormone receptor (GHR), insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF-2R), and their mRNA expressions (p<0.05). For the RG2 fetuses, there were no differences in the proliferation index and PCNA expression (p>0.05), but growth hormone (GH) and the mRNA expression of GHR were lower than those of the CG group (p<0.05). The thymic mRNA expressions of cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs including CDK1, CDK2, and CDK4), CCNE, E2-factors (E2F1, E2F2, and E2F5) were reduced in the RG1 and RG2 groups (p<0.05), and decreased mRNA expressions of E2F4, CCNA, CCNB, and CCND were occurred in the RG1 fetuses (p<0.05). The decreased E-cadherin (E-cad) as a marker for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was found in the RG1 and RG2 groups (p<0.05), but the OB-cadherin which is a marker for activated fibroblasts was increased in fetal thymus of the RG1 group (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results indicate that weakened GH/IGF signaling system repressed the cell cycle progression in G0/G1 phase in IUGR fetal thymus, but the switch from reduced E-cad to increased OB-cadherin suggests that transdifferentiation process of EMT associated with fibrogenesis was strengthened. The impaired cell growth, retarded proliferation and modified differentiation were responsible for impaired maturation of IUGR fetal thymus.