title: Overexpression of p21-activated kinase 1 promotes endometrial cancer             progression.
abstract: Endometrial cancer (EC) is the most common gynecologic malignancy, but the             molecular events involved in the development and progression of EC remain unclear.             P21-activated kinase 1 (Pak1) plays important roles in cell motility and survival.             This study investigated the clinical significance of Pak1 expression and its functional             roles in EC. The expression of Pak1 in clinical samples and EC cell lines was             evaluated. The effects of Pak1 on EC cell functions were determined by either             overexpressing it via plasmid transfection or depleting its expression using short             hairpin RNA (shRNA) in human EC cell lines. Pak1 was overexpressed in clinical             samples of EC compared with normal endometrium. High Pak1 expression in EC was             positively correlated with lymph node metastasis, advanced disease stage and poor             histological differentiation. Pak1 over-expression was also observed in multiple             human EC cell lines. In EC cell lines, Pak1 overexpression promoted cell proliferation,             migration, invasion and anchorage-independent growth in vitro. Conversely, shRNA-mediated             stable knockdown of Pak1 reduced cell proliferation, migration, invasion and anchorage-independent             growth. In addition, ectopic Pak1 overexpression protected EC cells from apoptosis,             along with decreased caspase-3 activation. These results suggest that Pak1 plays             important roles at multiple stages of EC progression.
authors: Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, The International Peace Maternity & Child Health Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, PR China.
authors: Wen
authors: W
authors: Lu
authors: Jun-Jie
authors: JJ
authors: Qu
authors: Bi-Lan
authors: BL
authors: Li
authors: Cong
authors: C
authors: Lu
authors: Qin
authors: Q
authors: Yan
authors: Xiao-Mei
authors: XM
authors: Wu
authors: Xiao-Yu
authors: XY
authors: Chen
authors: Xiao-Ping
authors: XP
authors: Wan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000235:genetics; D016889:Endometrial Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000235:genetics*; D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; D054462:p21-Activated Kinases / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D034741:RNA, Small Interfering; C515903:PAK1 protein, human; D054462:p21-Activated Kinases