SNAIL induces epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in a human pancreatic cancer cell line (BxPC3) and promotes distant metastasis and invasiveness in vivo.

SNAIL, a potent repressor of E-cadherin expression, plays a key role in inducing epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in epithelial cells. During EMT, epithelial cells lose cell polarity and adhesion, and undergo drastic morphological changes acquiring highly migratory abilities. Although there is increasing evidence that EMT is involved in the progression of some human cancers, its significance in the progression of pancreatic cancer remains elusive. In Panc-1, a well-known human pancreatic cancer cell line in which EMT is triggered by TGF-β1 treatment, SNAIL and vimentin are highly expressed, whereas E-cadherin expression is scant. In contrast, another human pancreatic cancer cell line, BxPC3, in which SNAIL expression is not detected, has high levels of E-cadherin expression and does not undergo EMT upon TGF-β1 treatment. After transfecting the SNAIL gene into BxPC3, however, the cells undergo EMT with remarkable alterations in cell morphology and molecular expression patterns without the addition of any growth factors. Furthermore, in an orthotopic transplantation model using SCID mice, SNAIL-transfected BxPC3 displayed highly metastatic and invasive activities. In the immunohistochemical analysis of the tumor derived from the SNAIL-expressing BxPC3, alterations suggestive of EMT were observed in the invasive tumor front. SNAIL enabled BxPC3 to undergo EMT, endowing it with a highly malignant potential in vivo. These results indicate that SNAIL-mediated EMT may be relevant in the progression of pancreatic cancer, and SNAIL could be a molecular target for a pancreatic cancer intervention.

Nishioka R ，Itoh S ，Gui T ，Gai Z ，Oikawa K ，Kawai M ，Tani M ，Yamaue H ，Muragaki Y ... -  《-》

Resveratrol suppresses epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer through TGF-β1/Smads signaling pathway mediated Snail/E-cadherin expression.

Ji Q ，Liu X ，Han Z ，Zhou L ，Sui H ，Yan L ，Jiang H ，Ren J ，Cai J ，Li Q ... -  《BMC CANCER》

miR-208-induced epithelial to mesenchymal transition of pancreatic cancer cells promotes cell metastasis and invasion.

Liu A ，Shao C ，Jin G ，Liu R ，Hao J ，Song B ，Ouyang L ，Hu X ... -  《-》

Receptor activator of NF-kappaB Ligand (RANKL) expression is associated with epithelial to mesenchymal transition in human prostate cancer cells.

Odero-Marah VA ，Wang R ，Chu G ，Zayzafoon M ，Xu J ，Shi C ，Marshall FF ，Zhau HE ，Chung LW ... -  《-》

The effect of JDP2 and ATF2 on the epithelial-mesenchymal transition of human pancreatic cancer cell lines.

Xu Y ，Liu Z ，Guo K 《-》