title: Aberrant overexpression of membrane-associated mucin contributes to tumor progression in adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma cells.
abstract: Aberrant overexpression of membrane-associated mucin (MUC1) is implicated in the pathogenesis of cancer, particularly of adenocarcinomas. Adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATL), an aggressive neoplasm etiologically associated with human T-lymphotropic virus type-1 (HTLV-1), exhibits invasive tropism into various organs, resulting in disease progression and resistance to treatment. In the present study, we showed that MUC1 is overexpressed exclusively in cells of ATL among hematological malignancies. Furthermore, increased expression of MUC1 correlated with a poor prognosis, suggesting MUC1 to be a prognostic marker in ATL. Various functional analyses with knockdown experiments using a specific siRNA for MUC1 revealed that MUC1 is involved in cell growth, cell aggregation, and resistance to apoptosis. Although it has been shown that the anti-adhesive properties of MUC1 facilitate migration and metastasis of tumor cells, our findings indicated that MUC1 contributes to cell-cell adhesion. Mucins thus seem to play a role in the pathogenesis and/or progression of ATL.
authors: Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nagasaki University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki, Japan.
authors: Hiroo
authors: H
authors: Hasegawa
authors: Minori
authors: M
authors: Komoda
authors: Yasuaki
authors: Y
authors: Yamada
authors: Suguru
authors: S
authors: Yonezawa
authors: Hideaki
authors: H
authors: Tsutsumida
authors: Kazuhiro
authors: K
authors: Nagai
authors: Sunao
authors: S
authors: Atogami
authors: Kazuto
authors: K
authors: Tsuruda
authors: Akemi
authors: A
authors: Osaka
authors: Daisuke
authors: D
authors: Sasaki
authors: Katsunori
authors: K
authors: Yanagihara
authors: Yoshitaka
authors: Y
authors: Imaizumi
authors: Kunihiro
authors: K
authors: Tsukasaki
authors: Yasushi
authors: Y
authors: Miyazaki
authors: Shimeru
authors: S
authors: Kamihira