Markers of the Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Cells of Endometrial Carcinoma

Abstract

Aim: To study the expression of adhesion markers (E-cadherin, β-catenin and vimentin) associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and their role in progression of endometrial carcinoma (EC). Materials and Methods: Expression of E-cadherin, β-catenin and vimentin was studied immunohistochemically in the samples of surgical material of 55 EC patients stage I–III. The proliferation index was determined by flow cytometry. Results: In the group of vimentin-negative EC, tumors of low differentiation grade and deep invasion in myometrium as well as high expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin prevailed compared with the cases with high expression of vimentin. In addition, in EC with high expression of vimentin, an increase in the number of cells with expression of E-cadherin in the cytoplasm (78.9 ± 3.6%) and β-catenin with cytoplasmic-nuclear localization (73.7 ± 3.2%) was observed compared with these indices in vimentin-negative tumors (45.4 ± 4.2%, p < 0.001 and 54.5 ± 2.6%, respectively, p < 0.005), which may indicate EMT-associated changes in EC with high expression of vimentin. Conclusions: The progression of the endometrioid carcinoma may occur in the setting of various molecular changes, in particular, with decreased expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin and high expression of vimentin, or in the absence of vimentin, utilizing other mechanisms of regulation of proliferative and metastatic potential.

Vimentin Protein In Situ Expression Predicts Less Tumor Metastasis and Overall Better Survival of Endometrial Carcinoma

“…Overexpression of vimentin correlates significantly with poor prognosis in several cancers, such as gastric cancer and breast cancer [11,12]. Conversely, previous studies showed that vimentin immunoreactivity was common in normal proliferative endometrium, and its persistence in EC might indicate a less malignant phenotype [13][14][15]. For example, Papadopoulos et al [14] demonstrated that expression of vimentin decreased as a lesion progressed to malignancy, and a recent study by Nesina et al [15] also found that decreased expression of vimentin in EC correlated with the aggressiveness of tumors.…”

“…Conversely, previous studies showed that vimentin immunoreactivity was common in normal proliferative endometrium, and its persistence in EC might indicate a less malignant phenotype [13][14][15]. For example, Papadopoulos et al [14] demonstrated that expression of vimentin decreased as a lesion progressed to malignancy, and a recent study by Nesina et al [15] also found that decreased expression of vimentin in EC correlated with the aggressiveness of tumors. However, there are only a few studies thus far focusing on the relationship between vimentin expression and EC prognosis currently, and its underlying molecular mechanism in EC is unclear.…”

Twist expression and content of tumour-associated macrophages in endometrial carcinoma

“…The tumours of 69.5% of patients with stage I-II EC and 50.0% tumours of patients with stage III of tumour progression were positive in terms of the expression of this protein. It was determined that positive expression of Twist was associated with the decreased expression of E-cadherin and the increased expression of vimentin as compared with these indices for ECE with negative expression of Twist [16,18] (Tab. 1).…”

“…The data obtained were compared with the results of the previous studies, in which the authors determined the expression of EMT markers in these very cases of ECE [16][17][18].…”

From Molecular Biology to Epithelial Carcinogenesis

“…On the contrary, vimentin expression, mesenchymal transcription factors, and cancer stem cell markers are increased. In endometrial carcinoma, EMT has been associated with all events of progression 119 . Cells emerging from EMT show expression of the CD133 marker and have the ability to self-renew, migrate, and increased drug resistance 120 .…”