title: The correlation between morphology and the expression of TGF-β signaling pathway proteins and epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related proteins in synovial sarcomas.
abstract: Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a malignant tumor of soft tissue and is noted for late local recurrence and metastasis. Aberrant epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of diverse human malignancies. Immunohistochemical techniques were used to assess EMT-related proteins (E-cadherin, N-cadherin, β-catenin, Snail, and Slug) and the TGF-β1 pathway (TGF-β1 and Smad2/3) proteins expression in different histological subtypes and epithelial mesenchymal compositions of SS. The expression of cell-surface (E-cadherin) and cytoskeletal proteins (β-catenin) were higher significantly in biphasic SSs (BSSs) (70.4%, 51.9%) than MFSSs (both for 10%). Among monophasic fibrous SSs (MFSSs) samples, E-cadherin protein expression was negatively correlated with expression Snail, Slug, TGF-β1, and Smad2/3. The expression levels of Snail and Smad2/3 were correlated with the pTNM stage (I-II vs. III-IV; P=0.047, P=0.021) and TGF-β1 exhibited a tendency toward a positive correlation with pTNM stage (I-II vs. III-IV; P=0.052), but did not correlate with the histological grade (p>0.05). Interestingly, our data showed that expression of E-cadherin protein correlated with greater survival in SS patients. Overexpression of Snail, and TGF-β1 is associated with suppressed expression of E-cadherin in MFSSs, which supports the hypothesis that the MFSS subtype may have developed via neoplastic EMT.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shihezi University School of Medicine Shihezi, Xinjiang, China ; Department of Oncology, Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology Wuhan, Hubei, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Cui-Cui
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yong-Lai
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Hong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.forename: Chun-Xia
authors.initials: CX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Li-Juan
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Pang
authors.forename: Jian-Ming
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Jin-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Wen-Jie
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000032:analysis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis; D002648:Child; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D060787:Neoplasm Grading; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D013584:Sarcoma, Synovial / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D051899:Smad2 Protein / Q000032:analysis; D051900:Smad3 Protein / Q000032:analysis; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000032:analysis; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1 / Q000032:analysis*; D055815:Young Adult; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C513384:CDH1 protein, human; C050361:CDH2 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; C497782:SMAD2 protein, human; C497790:SMAD3 protein, human; C000604407:SNAI1 protein, human; D051899:Smad2 Protein; D051900:Smad3 Protein; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D051176:beta Catenin
keywords: Synovial sarcomas; TGF-β1 signaling pathway; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; immunohistochemistry