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Updated: May 3, 2026
Induction of Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transitions in Sarcoma Cells
Published on: April 7, 2017
Correlation between the overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor and mesenchymal makers in endometrial
Wei-Ning Yang1, Zhi-Hong Ai1, Juan Wang1
1Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China.
Objective:
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of overexpression of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) on the expression of epithelial cell markers (E-cadherin and α-catenin) and mesenchymal cell markers (N-cadherin and vimentin) in endometrial carcinoma.
Methods:
The expression of all 4 markers was evaluated in EGFR overexpressing Ishikawa cells, control Ishikawa cells, and KLE cells using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting. The expression of these 4 markers was also determined in cancerous tissues of patients with endometrial carcinoma using immunohistochemical staining.
Results:
Ishikawa cells transfected with EGFR showed decreased expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin and increased expression of N-cadherin and vimentin compared with control Ishikawa cells (p<0.01 for all). The expression of N-cadherin and vimentin was higher and the expression of E-cadherin and α-catenin was lower in stage II-III than stage I and in grade II-III than grade I endometrial carcinoma tissue (p<0.01 for all).
Conclusion:
Decreased expression of epithelial markers (E-cadherin and α-catenin) and increased expression of mesenchymal markers (N-cadherin and vimentin) were observed in human endometrial carcinoma tissue. These findings correlate with high EGFR expression in cultured endometrial carcinoma cells.
