title: Scanning electron microscopy with an ionic liquid reveals the loss of mitotic protrusions of cells during the epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
abstract: Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a key event in cancer metastasis and is characterized by increase in cell motility, increase in expression of mesenchymal cell markers, loss of proteins from cell-to-cell junction complexes, and changes in cell morphology. Here, the morphological effects of a representative EMT inducer, transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, were investigated in human lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cells and pancreatic carcinoma (Panc-1) cells. TGF-β1 caused morphological changes characteristic of EMT, and immunostaining showed loss of E-cadherin from cell-to-cell junction complexes in addition to the upregulation of the mesenchymal marker vimentin. During scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with an ionic liquid, we observed EMT-specific morphological changes, including the formation of various cell protrusions. Interestingly, filopodia in mitotic cells were clearly observed by SEM, and the number of these filopodia in TFG-β1-treated mitotic cells was reduced significantly. We conclude that this reduction in such mitotic protrusions is a novel effect of TGF-β1 and may contribute to EMT.
authors.affiliation: Medical Research Institute, Kanazawa Medical University, Uchinada-Machi, Kahoku-Gun, Japan.
authors.forename: Yasuhito
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ishigaki
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Teruaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takehara
authors.forename: Takeo
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimasaki
authors.forename: Takanori
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tatsuno
authors.forename: Fumihide
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Takano
authors.forename: Yoshimichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: Yoshiharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Motoo
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takegami
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: Susumu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kuwabata
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nemoto
authors.forename: Naohisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tomosugi
authors.forename: Shichiro
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Miyazawa
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000737:chemistry / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D006801:Humans; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000378:metabolism*; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning / Q000379:methods*; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D011554:Pseudopodia / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D052578:Ionic Liquids; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014746:Vimentin