Yoshida Junko, Horiuchi Akiko, Kikuchi Norihiko, Hayashi Akiko, Osada Ryosuke, Ohira Satoshi, Shiozawa Tanri, Konishi Ikuo
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shinshu University School of Medicine, 3-1-1 Asahi, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan.
Med Mol Morphol. 2009 Jun;42(2):82-91. doi: 10.1007/s00795-008-0436-5. Epub 2009 Jun 18.
Changes in the expression of E-cadherin have been reported to be important in the tumorigenesis and progression of epithelial ovarian carcinoma. To further examine the mechanisms regulating E-cadherin expression in ovarian tumorigenesis, we investigated the immunohistochemical expression of transcriptional repressors for E-cadherin, such as Snail, Slug, SIP1, and Twist, in the ovarian surface epithelium (OSE) and 95 cases of epithelial ovarian tumors. OSE cells were negative for SIP1 and Slug, whereas weak expression of Snail and Twist was observed in 8 (73%) and 3 (27%) cases, respectively. Of 95 ovarian tumors, the expression of Snail, Slug, SIP1, and Twist increased stepwise in benign, borderline, and malignant tumors. Among them, the expression of Snail showed significantly inverse correlation with that of E-cadherin. Regarding the FIGO stage classification, the expressions of Snail and Twist were significantly increased in advanced cases. The prognosis of ovarian carcinoma patients positive for Snail expression was poorer than that of negative patients. Our results indicate that the expression of E-cadherin transcriptional repressors increased with malignancy in ovarian epithelial neoplasms and that the expression of E-cadherin and its negative regulators is altered during ovarian cancer development and peritoneal dissemination.
据报道，E-钙黏蛋白表达的变化在上皮性卵巢癌的肿瘤发生和进展中具有重要意义。为了进一步研究卵巢肿瘤发生过程中调控E-钙黏蛋白表达的机制，我们调查了E-钙黏蛋白转录抑制因子（如Snail、Slug、SIP1和Twist）在卵巢表面上皮（OSE）和95例上皮性卵巢肿瘤中的免疫组化表达。OSE细胞中SIP1和Slug呈阴性，而分别在8例（73%）和3例（27%）中观察到Snail和Twist的弱表达。在95例卵巢肿瘤中，Snail、Slug、SIP1和Twist的表达在良性、交界性和恶性肿瘤中呈逐步增加。其中，Snail的表达与E-钙黏蛋白的表达呈显著负相关。关于国际妇产科联盟（FIGO）分期，Snail和Twist的表达在晚期病例中显著增加。Snail表达阳性的卵巢癌患者的预后比阴性患者差。我们的结果表明，E-钙黏蛋白转录抑制因子的表达在卵巢上皮性肿瘤中随恶性程度增加而升高，并且在卵巢癌发展和腹膜播散过程中E-钙黏蛋白及其负调控因子的表达发生改变。
