Snail and slug play distinct roles during breast carcinoma progression.

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Côme, Christophe Magnino, Fabrice Bibeau, Frédéric Barbara, Pascal De Santa Becker, Karl Friedrich Theillet, Charles Savagner, Pierre
Copyright Year	2006
Abstract	PURPOSE Carcinoma progression is linked to a partially dedifferentiated epithelial cell phenotype. As previously suggested, this regulation could involve transcription factors, Snail and Slug, known to promote epithelial-mesenchymal transitions during development. Here, we investigate the role of Snail and Slug in human breast cancer progression. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN We analyzed Snail, Slug, and E-cadherin RNA expression levels and protein localization in large numbers of transformed cell lines and breast carcinomas, examined the correlation with tumor histologic features, and described, at the cellular level, Snail and Slug localization in carcinomas using combined in situ hybridization and immunolocalization. RESULTS In contrast with transformed cell lines, Slug was found to colocalize with E-cadherin at the cellular level in normal mammary epithelial cells and all tested carcinomas. Snail also colocalized at the cellular level with E-cadherin in tumors expressing high levels of Snail RNA. In addition, Snail was significantly expressed in tumor stroma, varying with tumors. Slug and Snail genes were significantly overexpressed in tumors associated with lymph node metastasis. Finally, the presence of semidifferentiated tubules within ductal carcinomas was linked to Slug expression levels similar to or above normal breast samples. CONCLUSIONS These results suggest that Snail or Slug expression in carcinoma cells does not generally preclude significant E-cadherin expression. They emphasize a link between Snail, Slug, and lymph node metastasis in a large sampling of mammary carcinomas, and suggest a role for Slug in the maintenance of semidifferentiated structures. Snail and Slug proteins seem to support distinct tumor invasion modes and could provide new therapeutic targets.
Starting Page	307
Ending Page	313
Page Count	7
File Format	PDF HTM / HTML
Alternate Webpage(s)	http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/clincanres/12/18/5395.full.pdf
PubMed reference number	17000672v1
Volume Number	12
Issue Number	18
Journal	Clinical cancer research : an official journal of the American Association for Cancer Research
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	Anatomic Node Breast Carcinoma Cadherins Cultured Cell Line Ductal Carcinoma In Situ Hybridization Malignant neoplasm of breast Nucleic Acid Hybridization TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR Transcription, Genetic epithelial to mesenchymal transition intracellular protein transport lymph node metastases lymph nodes
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article