Copyright © Histochemical Society, Inc. A more recent version of this article appeared on November 1, 2006.
Snail-dependent and -independent Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells
1 Institute of Biomedicine/Anatomy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland (MT,MH,IV); Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Turku University Central Hospital, Turku, Finland (RG); Hospital for Children and Adolescents, Helsinki University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland (MK); and Unitat de Biologia Cellular i Molecular, Institut Municipal d'Investigació Mèdica, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain (AGH)
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: minna.k.takkunen{at}helsinki.fi.
EF1 and especially ZEB-2/SIP1, which therefore appear as candidates for endogenous EMT in these cells. The differences between endogenous and exogenous EMT were assessed by transfecting 43A cells with SNAIL cDNA. SNAIL-transfected cells showed complete EMT phenotype with fibroblastoid appearance, vimentin filaments, E-cadherin/N-cadherin switch, lack of hemidesmosomes and, as a new feature of EMT, lack of laminin-332 synthesis. Upregulation of ZEB-1 and ZEB-2 was evident in these cells, suggesting that SNAIL can regulate these E-cadherin repressors. New monoclonal antibodies against SNAIL showed nuclear immunoreactivity not only in the SNAIL-transfected cells but also in carcinoma cells lacking production of Lm-332 and showing signs of EMT. These results suggest that changes in the epithelial cell differentiation program and EMT in SCC cells can result from the interplay between several E-cadherin repressors; however, SNAIL alone is able to accomplish a complete EMT.
Key Words: epithelial-mesenchymal transition, E-cadherin, ZEB-1, ZEB-2, SNAIL, laminin-332
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