Expression of twist and wnt in human breast cancer.
Twist, a transcription factor of the basic helix-loop-helix class, has been suggested to have oncogenic properties. We reported Twist expression was regulated by Wnt/beta-catenin signaling and that both Wnt-1 and Twist could contribute to mammary tumorigenesis. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the expression of Twist, Wnt-1 and Wnt-2 in human breast cancer tissue. We examined the expression in patients with breast cancer by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. RT-PCR of twenty-three pairs of cancer and normal breast tissue revealed that Twist was up-regulated in 69.6% (16/23) of the cancer lesions and 21.7% (5/23) of the normal breast tissues. Wnt-2 was up-regulated in all of the cancer lesions and 13.0% (3/23) of the normal breast tissues, whereas Wnt-1 was expressed in both the cancer and normal breast tissues of the five cases examined. Immunohistochemical analyses revealed that Twist was positively expressed in 52.2% (12/23) of the cancer lesions and 34.8% (8/23) of the normal breast tissues. Twist and Wnt-2 are highly expressed in breast cancer tissue, suggesting that both molecules could play important roles in mammary carcinogenesis.
Watanabe
Osamu
O
Department of Surgery, Tokyo Women's Medical University, Daini Hospital, Tokyo, Japan.
Imamura
Hiroshi
H
Shimizu
Tadao
T
Kinoshita
Jun
J
Okabe
Toshihiro
T
Hirano
Akira
A
Yoshimatsu
Kazuhiko
K
Konno
Soichi
S
Aiba
Motohiko
M
Ogawa
Kenji
K
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D015854:Up-Regulation; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; D051154:Wnt2 Protein
D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; C495247:WNT1 protein, human; C495244:WNT2 protein, human; D051153:Wnt Proteins; D051155:Wnt1 Protein; D051154:Wnt2 Protein