Comment on: Functional MUC4 suppress epithelial-mesenchymal transition in lung adenocarcinoma metastasis. Gao L, Liu J, Zhang B, Zhang H, Wang D, Zhang T, Liu Y, Wang C. Tumour Biol. 2013, in press.
Gao and collaborators (Tumour Biol, 2013) have investigated the role of mucin 4 (MUC4) in lung cancer and have concluded that a loss of MUC4 results in epithelial mesenchymal transition via beta-catenin nuclear translocation and that MUC4 expression is correlated with a risk of lymph node metastasis in a cohort of 20 lung adenocarcinoma patients. This surprising analysis is contradictory to most of the scientific knowledge and literature regarding MUC4 contribution in epithelial cancers that is very hardly discussed in their manuscript.
UMR837, Jean Pierre Aubert Research Center, Team #5 "Mucins, epithelial differentiation and carcinogenesis", Inserm, rue Polonovski, 59045, Lille Cedex, France, nicolas.jonckheere@inserm.fr.
Nicolas
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Jonckheere
Isabelle
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Van Seuningen
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics*; D055264:Mucin-4 / Q000235:genetics*; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis / Q000235:genetics*
D055264:Mucin-4