title: Overexpression of trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) contributes to the malignant progression in cervical cancer cells.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There remains a great need for effective therapies for cervical cancers, the majority of which are aggressive leaving patients with poor prognosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Here, we identify a novel candidate therapeutic target, trefoil factor 3 (TFF3) which overexpressed in cervical cancer cells and was associated with reduced postoperative survival. Functional studies demonstrated that TFF3 overexpression promoted the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells, and inhibited the apoptosis by inducing the mRNA changes in SiHa and Hela cell lines. Conversely, TFF3 silencing disrupted the proliferation and invasion of cervical cancer cells, and induced the apoptosis via Click-iT EdU test, flow cytometry analysis and two-dimensional Matrigel Transwell analysis. Western blot analysis showed that overexpression of TFF3 repressed E-cadherin (CDH1) expression to promote the invasion of cervical cancer cells. Furthermore, down-regulated CDH1 via overexpression of TFF3 was significantly up-regulated by virtue of inhibitor of p-STAT3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggested that TFF3 stimulated the invasion of cervical cancer cells probably by activating the STAT3/CDH1 signaling pathway. Furthermore, overexpression of TFF3 decreased the sensitivity of cervical cancer cells to etoposide by increasing P-glycoprotein (P-gp) functional activity. Overall, our work provides a preclinical proof that TFF3 not only contributes to the malignant progression of cervical cancers and but also is a potential therapeutic target.
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Transfusion, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510180 Guangdong Province China.
authors.forename: Zhaohu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510180 China.
authors.forename: Dandan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Transfusion, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510180 Guangdong Province China.
authors.forename: Xiaojie
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Transfusion, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510180 Guangdong Province China.
authors.forename: Huikuan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Blood Transfusion, Guangzhou First People's Hospital, Guangzhou Medical University, Guangzhou, 510180 Guangdong Province China.
authors.forename: Yaming
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wei
keywords: Cervical cancer cells; Malignant progression; Therapeutic targets; Trefoil factor 3 (TFF3)