Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a crucial step in disease progression, plays a key role in tumor metastasis. N-cadherin, a well-known EMT marker, acts as a major oncogene in diverse cancers, whereas its functions in thyroid cancer remains largely unclear. This study was designed to explore the biological roles and related molecular mechanism of N-cadherin in thyroid tumorigenesis. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry assays were used to evaluate N-cadherin expression. A series of in vitro studies such as cell proliferation, colony formation, cell cycle, apoptosis, migration and invasion assays were performed to determine the effect of N-cadherin on malignant behavior of thyroid cancer cells. Our results showed that N-cadherin was significantly upregulated in papillary thyroid cancers (PTCs) as compared with non-cancerous thyroid tissues. N-cadherin knockdown markedly inhibited cell proliferation, colony formation, cell migration and invasion, and induced cell cycle arrest and apoptosis. On the other hand, ectopic expression of N-cadherin promoted thyroid cancer cell growth and invasiveness. Mechanically, our data demonstrated that tumor-promoting role of N-cadherin in thyroid cancer was closely related to the activities of the MAPK/Erk, the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/Akt and p16/Rb signaling pathways in addition to affecting the EMT process. Altogether, our findings suggest that N-cadherin promotes thyroid tumorigenesis by modulating the activities of major signaling pathways and EMT process, and may represent a potential therapeutic target for this cancer.
High-resistivity β -Ga 2 O 3 thin films were grown on Si-doped n-type conductive β -Ga 2 O 3 single crystals by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Vertical-type Schottky diodes were fabricated, and the electrical properties of the Schottky diodes were studied in this letter. The ideality factor and the series resistance of the Schottky diodes were estimated to be about 1.4 and 4.6 × 10 6 Ω. The ionized donor concentration and the spreading voltage in the Schottky diodes region are about 4 × 10 18 cm −3 and 7.6 V, respectively. The ultra-violet (UV) photo-sensitivity of the Schottky diodes was demonstrated by a low-pressure mercury lamp illumination. A photoresponsivity of 1.8 A/W and an external quantum efficiency of 8.7 × 10 2 % were observed at forward bias voltage of 3.8 V, the proper driving voltage of read-out integrated circuit for UV camera. The gain of the Schottky diode was attributed to the existence of a potential barrier in the i-n junction between the MBE-grown highly resistive β -Ga 2 O 3 thin films and the n-type conductive β -Ga 2 O 3 single-crystal substrate.
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