title: IMP3 expression is associated with epithelial-mesenchymal transition in breast cancer.
abstract: IMP3 plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis, to which epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) also contributes. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether IMP3 can regulate invasion and metastasis through EMT in breast cancers. The protein expression levels of IMP3 and EMT markers were analyzed by immunohistochemistry in 180 paraffin-embedded human breast tissue samples. There was an inverse correlation of IMP3 with E-cadherin protein expression (P = 0.042). IMP3 expression directly correlated with both Slug (P = 0.004) and vimentin (P < 0.001). Changes in E-cadherin, vimentin, and Slug mRNA and protein levels were examined by quantitative real-time reverse polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and western blotting. Overexpression of IMP3 reduced the expression of E-cadherin and upregulated Slug and vimentin in transfected cells. In contrast, knocking down IMP3 had the opposite expression of the three proteins. Ribo-immunoprecipitation qPCR revealed that IMP3 binds Slug mRNA directly. In a transwell assay, overexpression of Slug rescued the cell migration and invasion caused by silencing IMP3 in MDA-MB-231 cells. On the other hand, knockdown of Slug in T47D-IMP3 cells could also have the opposite change. Our results strengthen the association of IMP3 with the regulation of EMT. Slug is a functional target of IMP3. IMP3 could therefore promote invasion and migration through the EMT in breast cancer cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Peng
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Su
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Weiwei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaofang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hongxia
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology and Pathophysiology, Shandong University School of Medicine 44 Wenhua Xi Road, Jinan 250012, Shandong, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Gengyin
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D047468:Immunoprecipitation; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C498780:IGF2BP3 protein, human; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C000604407:SNAI1 protein, human; D000071250:Snail Family Transcription Factors; D014157:Transcription Factors
keywords: Insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) mRNA binding protein 3 (IMP3); breast cancer; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; metastasis; ribo-immunoprecipitation