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Updated: May 11, 2026

Integration of Bioinformatics Approaches and Experimental Validations to Understand the Role of Notch Signaling in Ovarian Cancer
Published on: January 12, 2020
Expression and significance of twist and E-cadherin in ovarian cancer tissues
Wen-Shuang Wang1, Shou-Li Yu, Xing-Sheng Yang
1Department of Gynecology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Jinan, China. wsdoccn@yeah.net
Objective:
To investigate the expression of Twist and E-cadherin in ovarian cancer tissues as well as the role of epithelial-mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in ovarian cancer metastasis.
Method:
The expressions of Twist and E-cadherin in 54 cases of ovarian cancer and paracancerous tissues were detected by Western blottin g and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. We used RNA interference to silence Twist expression in human ovarian cancer cell line, and detected E-cadherin expression using Western blotting.
Results:
There was an increase in the relative abundance of Twist proteins and a decrease in E-cadherin in ovarian cancer compared with normal ovary tissues (P < 0.05). The expression levels of Twist and E-cadherin mRNA were 1.49 ± 0.53 and 0.82 ± 0.24 in ovarian cancer, and 1.14 ± 0.38 and 1.08 ± 0.19 in paracancerous tissues, respectively. The difference between the indicators in ovarian cancer and in paracancerous tissues was statistically significant (P < 0.05). When the Twist expression was silenced in an ovarian cancer cell line, the expression of the E-cadherin protein increased (P<0.05).
Conclusion:
The expression of Twist is upregulated, whereas that of E-cadherin is downregulated in ovarian cancer. EMT, mediated by Twist, may be correlated with ovarian cancer metastasis.
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