title: Overexpression of Snail in retinal pigment epithelial triggered epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
abstract: Snail transcription factor has been implicated as an important regulator in epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during tumourigenesis and fibrogenesis. Our previous work showed that Snail transcription factor was activated in transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) induced EMT in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and may contribute to the development of retinal fibrotic disease such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). However, whether Snail alone has a direct role on retinal pigment epithelial-mesenchymal transition has not been investigated. Here, we analyzed the capacity of Snail to drive EMT in human RPE cells. A vector encoding Snail gene or an empty vector were transfected into human RPE cell lines ARPE-19 respectively. Snail overexpression in ARPE-19 cells resulted in EMT, which was characterized by the expected phenotypic transition from a typical epithelial morphology to mesenchymal spindle-shaped. The expression of epithelial markers E-cadherin and Zona occludin-1 (ZO-1) were down-regulated, whereas mesenchymal markers a-smooth muscle actin (a-SMA) and fibronectin were up-regulated in Snail expression vector transfected cells. In addition, ectopic expression of Snail significantly enhanced ARPE-19 cell motility and migration. The present data suggest that overexpression of Snail in ARPE-19 cells could directly trigger EMT. These results may provide novel insight into understanding the regulator role of Snail in the development of retinal pigment epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China.
authors.forename: Min
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China.
authors.forename: Ding
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China.
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China.
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Shanghai Tenth People's Hospital, Affiliate of Tongji University, Shanghai 200072, PR China. Electronic address: milwang_122@msn.com.
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000378:metabolism; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D002460:Cell Line; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000166:cytology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D014162:Transfection; D015854:Up-Regulation; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: C541116:ACTA2 protein, human; D000199:Actins; D015820:Cadherins; D005353:Fibronectins; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; C569042:TJP1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D062826:Zonula Occludens-1 Protein
keywords: Epithelial–mesenchymal transition; Proliferative vitreoretinopathy; Retinal pigment epithelial; Snail