Vitamin D receptor (VDR) mediates the antitumoral action of the active vitamin D metabolite 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3). However, VDR expression is lost during colon cancer progression, possibly causing unresponsiveness to 1,25(OH)2D3. Although several mechanisms responsible for resistance to 1,25(OH)2D3 action in different types of cancer had been reported, none explained the l...

Cancer cells often employ developmental cues for advantageous growth and metastasis. Here, we report that an axon guidance molecule, Sema3E, is highly expressed in human high-grade ovarian endometrioid carcinoma, but not low-grade or other ovarian epithelial tumors, and facilitates tumor progression. Unlike its known angiogenic activity, Sema3E acted through Plexin-D1 receptors to augment cell ...

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been shown to associate with cancer stem cells and radioresistance. However, it is obscure whether EMT itself or specific EMT regulators play causal roles in these properties of salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC). Here, we exhibited that overexpression of HSP27 drove the migration and invasion, induced EMT, as well as mediated TGF-β1-induced EMT...

High malignancy and early metastasis are hallmarks of melanoma. Here, we report that the transcription factor Snail1 inhibits expression of the tumor suppressor CYLD in melanoma. As a direct consequence of CYLD repression, the protooncogene BCL-3 translocates into the nucleus and activates Cyclin D1 and N-cadherin promoters, resulting in proliferation and invasion of melanoma cells. Rescue of C...

The serine/threonine kinase LKB1 is a tumor suppressor whose loss is associated with increased metastatic potential. In an effort to define biochemical signatures of metastasis associated with LKB1 loss, we discovered that the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition transcription factor Snail1 was uniquely upregulated upon LKB1 deficiency across cell types. The ability of LKB1 to suppress Snail1 l...

Objective: Ras-related C3 botulinum toxin substrate1(Rac1) and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) are key therapeutic targets in cancer. We investigated the clinical significance of Rac1 and markers of EMT expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and their possible correlation with EMT phenotype. Methods: Immunohistochemistry was used to assess the expression of Rac1, Snail1, Twis...

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) plays a significant role in tubulointerstitial fibrosis, which is a hallmark of diabetic nephropathy. Thus, identifying the mechanisms of EMT activation could be meaningful. In this study, loss of miR-30c accompanied with increased EMT was observed in renal tubules of db/db mice and cultured HK2 cells exposed to high glucose. To further explore the rol...

Lung cancer has a high propensity for metastasis. Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are the main type of stromal cells in cancer tissue, are activated by tumor cells, and play a significant role in tumor development. However, whether CAFs induce lung cancer cell metastasis, as well as pathway involved in CAF-induced lung cancer cell metastasis, is uncertain. Snail1 is a transcriptional facto...

Cell migration is a finely tuned biological process that often involves epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT typically characterized by the upregulation of mesenchymal markers such as Snail1. This has been shown to be critical importance normal developmental processes, including neural crest and invasion. Interestingly, similar mechanisms are utilized in disease tumor metastasis migrati...

High levels of transforming growth factor-β (TGFβ) correlate with poor prognosis for patients with prostate cancer and other cancers. TGFβ is a multifunctional cytokine and crucial regulator of cell fate, such as epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), which is implicated in cancer invasion and progression. TGFβ conveys its signals upon binding to type I and type II serine/threonine kinase ...