title: High expression of CTHRC1 promotes EMT of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) and is associated with poor prognosis.
abstract: Collagen triple helix repeat-containing 1 (CTHRC1) is aberrantly overexpressed in multiple malignant tumors. However, the expression characteristics and function of CTHRC1 in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) remain unclear. We found that CTHRC1 expression was up-regulated in the paraffin-embedded EOC tissues compared to borderline or benign tumor tissues. CTHRC1 expression was positively correlated with tumor size (p = 0.008), menopause (p = 0.037), clinical stage (p = 0.002) and lymph node metastasis (p < 0.001) and was also an important prognostic factor for the overall survival of EOC patients, as revealed by Kaplan-Meier analysis. CTHRC1 increased the invasive capabilities of EOC cells in vitro by activating the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway. We showed that ectopic transfection of CTHRC1 in EOC cells up-regulated the expression of EMT markers such as N-cadherin and vimentin, and EMT-associated transcriptional factor Snail. Knockdown of CTHRC1 expression in EOC cells resulted in down-regulation of N-cadherin, vimentin, Snail and translocation of β-catenin. Collectively, CTHRC1 may promote EOC metastasis through the induction of EMT process and serve as a potential biomarker for prognosis as well as a target for therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.|Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Minzhi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hou
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Shenzhen People's Hospital, Second Clinical Medical College of Jinan University, Shenzhen, Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shanyang
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yunping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Department of Stomatology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chongjin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics, School of Basic Medical Science, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Xinlin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology, Crump Institute for Molecular Imaging (CIMI), California NanoSystems Institute (CNSI), University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
authors.forename: Millicent
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Liantang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, Province Guangdong, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zunfu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Ke
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000077216:Carcinoma, Ovarian Epithelial; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D064593:Heterografts; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009375:Neoplasms, Glandular and Epithelial / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D016612:Paraffin Embedding; D011379:Prognosis; D014162:Transfection; D015854:Up-Regulation; D060449:Wnt Signaling Pathway
chemical_list: C502426:CTHRC1 protein, human; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins
keywords: CTHRC1; epithelial ovarian cancer; epithelial-mesenchymal transition; β-catenin