title: Low expression of the FoxO4 gene may contribute to the phenomenon of EMT in non-small cell lung cancer.
abstract: Because of its importance in tumor invasion and metastasis, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has become a research focus in the field of cancer. Recently, evidence has been presented that FoxO4 might be involved in EMT. Our study aimed to detect the expression of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLCs). We also investigated clinical features and their correlations with the markers. In our study, FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin were assessed by immunohistochemistry in a tissue microarray (TMA) containing 150 cases of NSCLC. In addition, the expression level of FoxO4 protein was determined by Western blotting. The percentages of FoxO4, E-cadherin and vimentin positive expression in NSCLCs were 42.7%, 38.7% and 55.3%, respectively. Immunoreactivity of FoxO4 was low in NSCLC when compared with paired normal lung tissues. There were significant correlations between FoxO4 and TNM stage (P<0.001), histological differentiation (P=0.004) and lymph node metastasis (P<0.001), but no significant links with age (P=0.323), gender (P=0.410), tumor size (P=0.084), smoking status (P=0.721) and histological type (P=0.281). Our study showed that low expression of FoxO4 correlated with decreased expression of E-cadherin and elevated expression of vimentin. Cox regression analysis indicated FoxO4 to be an independent prognostic factor in NSCLC (P=0.046). These data suggested that FoxO4 might inhibit the process of EMT in NSCLC, and might therefore be a target for therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Affiliated Hospital of Nantong University, Nantong, China E-mail : bluefiime@qq.com.
authors.forename: Ming-Ming
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Guo-Xin
authors.initials: GX
authors.lastname: Mao
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jian-Chao
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Yi-Fei
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Jun-Hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000473:pathology; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D014746:Vimentin / Q000096:biosynthesis
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; C108803:FOXO4 protein, human; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors; D014746:Vimentin