title: Prognostic significance of twist and N-cadherin expression in NSCLC.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metastasis is the most common cause of disease failure and mortality for non-small cell lung cancer after surgical resection. Twist has been recently identified as a putative oncogene and a key regulator of carcinoma metastasis. N-cadherin is associated with a more aggressive behavior of cell lines and tumors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical relevance of Twist and N-cadherin expression in NSCLC, and the effects of Twist1 knockdown on lung cancer cells.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examined the expressions of Twist and N-cadherin by immunohistochemistry in 120 cases of non-small cell lung cancer (including 68 cases with follow-up records). We also analyzed Twist1 and N-cadherin mRNA expression in 30 non-small cell lung cancer tissues using quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. The functional roles of Twist1 in lung cancer cell lines were evaluated by small interfering RNA-mediated depletion of the protein followed by analyses of cell apoptosis and invasion.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In lung cancer tissues, the overexpression rate of Twist was 38.3% in lung cancer tissues. Overexpression of N-cadherin was shown in 40.83% of primary tumors. Moreover, Twist1 mRNA expression levels correlated with N-cadherin mRNA levels. Furthermore, overexpression of Twist1 or N-cadherin in primary non-small cell lung cancers was associated with a shorter overall survival (P<0.01, P<0.01, respectively). Depleting Twist expression inhibited cell invasion and increased apoptosis in lung cancer cell lines.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The overexpression of Twist and N-cadherin could be considered as useful biomarkers for predicting the prognosis of NSCLC. Twist1 could inhibit apoptosis and promote the invasion of lung cancer cells, and depletion of Twist1 in lung cancer cells led to inhibition of N-cadherin expression.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory Center, The Fourth Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, China.
authors.forename: Linping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.forename: Siyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xinjun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Dali
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Zeshi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Xueshan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Qiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000235:genetics; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D011379:Prognosis; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1