Liu Pengju, Zeng Jianfeng, Yang Gaohua
Department of General Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, Quanzhou, Fujian 362000, P.R. China.
Exp Ther Med. 2022 Jun;23(6):429. doi: 10.3892/etm.2022.11356. Epub 2022 May 6.
The expression profile and role of yes-associated protein (YAP) in occurrence and development of breast cancer is ambiguous. The present study aimed to explore the relationship among the YAP, β-catenin and smoothened (SMO) signaling pathways to provide a theoretical basis for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of invasive breast cancer. Immunohistochemistry was used to determine the protein expression levels of YAP, β-catenin and SMO in tumor, tumor-adjacent and normal breast tissue. The possible association between the expression levels of these three proteins and the clinicopathological features of patients with breast cancer was then analyzed by the χ test. The protein expression of YAP was found to be downregulated, whilst β-catenin and SMO expression were found to be upregulated in tumor tissues as compared with that in normal breast tissues. In addition, the expression of YAP in breast cancer tissues was found to be associated with that of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), progesterone and estrogen receptors. By contrast, the protein expression of β-catenin and SMO in breast cancer tissues was only associated with HER2. There was a negative correlation between the expression of YAP and SMO protein in breast cancer tissues. Compared with that in the changes in each of YAP, β-catenin and SMO protein expression levels individually, their combined changes in expression were demonstrated to associate significantly with the tumor histological grade. To conclude, data from the present study suggest that the combined protein expression of YAP, β-catenin and SMO can be used as a prognostic indicator for the treatment of invasive breast cancer.
Yes相关蛋白（YAP）在乳腺癌发生发展中的表达谱及作用尚不明确。本研究旨在探讨YAP、β-连环蛋白和 smoothened（SMO）信号通路之间的关系，为浸润性乳腺癌的临床诊断和治疗提供理论依据。采用免疫组织化学法检测YAP、β-连环蛋白和SMO在肿瘤、肿瘤旁及正常乳腺组织中的蛋白表达水平。然后通过χ检验分析这三种蛋白的表达水平与乳腺癌患者临床病理特征之间的可能关联。结果发现，与正常乳腺组织相比，肿瘤组织中YAP的蛋白表达下调，而β-连环蛋白和SMO的表达上调。此外，发现乳腺癌组织中YAP的表达与人表皮生长因子受体2（HER2）、孕激素和雌激素受体的表达相关。相比之下，乳腺癌组织中β-连环蛋白和SMO的蛋白表达仅与HER2相关。乳腺癌组织中YAP和SMO蛋白的表达呈负相关。与YAP、β-连环蛋白和SMO蛋白表达水平各自的变化相比，它们表达的联合变化与肿瘤组织学分级显著相关。总之，本研究数据表明，YAP、β-连环蛋白和SMO的联合蛋白表达可作为浸润性乳腺癌治疗的预后指标。
