宫颈癌细胞系中EMT相关基因的表达及其意义

摘要

Objective Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)is thought to be one of the important mechanisms of invasion and metastasis of carcinoma cells,which includes down-regulation of epithelial cell markers and up-regulation of mesenchymal markers.The aim of our study was to investigate whether EMT occurs in cervical cancer cell lines and determine the proper cell model to study the mechanism of EMT in cervical cancer.Methods We detected the mRNA expression of EMT-associated genes,namely,E-cadherin,vimentin,Snail and Slug,in four cervical cancer cell lines using reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction analysis.E-cadherin and vimentin protein expression levels were examined using Western blotting. Snail and Slug protein expression levels were examined by immunocytochemical staining.Results Vimentin and Snail mRNA was expressed in all of the four cell lines.E-cadherin and Slug mRNA was expressed in SiHa,HeLa and RJC-1 cells except CS1213 cells.E-cadherin protein was found in SiHa and RJC-1 cells whereas vimentin protein was detected in HeLa and CS1213.Snail protein was expressed in all of the four cell lines.Slug protein was found in SiHa,HeLa and RJC-1 cells.Conclusion It seems that HeLa and CS1213 display the phenotype of mesenchymal cells whereas SiHa and RJC-1 remain the epithelial phenotype.%目的 上皮-间质转化(EMT)是上皮来源的恶性肿瘤侵袭转移的重要机制之一,其特征为上皮细胞标志物表达下调(E-cadherin等)而间质细胞标志物(vimentin等)表达上调.本研究旨在探讨人宫颈癌细胞系EMT相关标志物的表达情况,以确定宫颈癌细胞是否发生EMT,并为确定相关的细胞研究模型奠定基础.方法 采用逆转录PCR方法检测4株人宫颈癌细胞系(SiHa、HeLa、RJC-1、CS1213)中E-cadherin、vimentin、Snail和Slug mRNA的表达;Western blotting检测E-cadherin和vimentin的蛋白表达;免疫细胞化学方法检测Snail和Slug的蛋白表达.结果 vimentin和Snail mRNA在4种细胞中均有表达,E-cadherin和Slug mRNA在SiHa、HeLa和RJC-1细胞表达.E-cadherin蛋白在SiHa和RJC-1细胞表达,vimentin蛋白在HeLa和CS1213细胞表达.Snail蛋白在4个细胞株都有表达,Slug蛋白在SiHa、HeLa和RJC-1细胞表达.结论 HeLa和CS1213表现出间质细胞表型,SiHa和RJC-1则表现为上皮细胞表型.