title: Expression of trefoil factors and TWIST1 in colorectal cancer and their correlation with metastatic potential and prognosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To detect the expression of trefoil factors (TFFs) and TWIST1 in colorectal cancer (CRC) and analyze their correlation with metastasis and survival.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study examined the expression of TFF1, TFF3 and TWIST1 in a total of 75 tumor samples, 47 matched normal samples (15 cm from the lesion margin), 30 metastatic lymph nodes, and 10 liver metastatic cancer samples from patients with CRC. The relationship was then analyzed between the protein expression and different clinical records. TFF1, TFF3, TWIST1,E-cadherin, vimentin and β-catenin mRNA and protein expression levels were measured in colon cancer cell lines with different metastatic potentials (HIEC, HT29, SW620, and LoVo cells), and the correlation of the expression levels with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) was discussed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  It was found that 66.7% (50/75), 78.7% (59/75) and 54.7% (41/75) of tumor tissue samples exhibited positive staining for TFF1, TFF3 and TWIST1 and so did 27.3% (13/47), 100% (47/47) and 17% (8/47) of adjacent normal colorectal tissues. Compared with adjacent normal tissues, significant differences were found in the expression of all three proteins in different cancerous tissues (P< 0.05). Higher expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 was significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis (P= 0.034,P= 0.000), advanced stage (P= 0.031,P= 0.003), and poorer survival (P= 0.042 for the TFF3 group,P= 0.003 for the TWIST1 group). The expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 in cancer cell lines was higher than that in HIEC (a normal human intestinal epithelial cell line)(P< 0.05), and the expression intensity demonstrated a tendency to rise with increased metastatic potential both at the protein and mRNA levels. However, TFF1 expression demonstrated the opposite tendency. It was also observed that the expression of E-cadherin and β-catenin tended to decrease while that of vimentin, TWIST1 and Snail tended to rise with the increase in metastatic potential.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The expression of TFF3 and TWIST1 might be associated with the survival of patients with CRC after curative resection and might be pivotal predictors of disease progression. TFF3 may be correlated to the invasiveness of CRC.
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Akram
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yusup
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Bailikezi
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Huji
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Cheng
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Tuerxunjiang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dadihan
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Jiang
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Akram Yusup, Bailikezi Huji, Hai-Jiang Wang, Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery and Record Room, Affiliated Tumor Hospital, Xin Jiang Medical University, Urumqi 830011, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China.
authors.forename: Halmurat
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Upur
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000401:mortality / Q000473:pathology*; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000556:secondary; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D011379:Prognosis; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D015996:Survival Rate; D000071163:Trefoil Factor-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000071165:Trefoil Factor-3 / Q000378:metabolism*; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D014746:Vimentin / Q000378:metabolism; D055815:Young Adult; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; C513384:CDH1 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C051838:TFF1 protein, human; C082495:TFF3 protein, human; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D000071163:Trefoil Factor-1; D000071165:Trefoil Factor-3; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; D014746:Vimentin; D051176:beta Catenin
keywords: Colorectal cancer; Metastasis; Survival; TWIST1; Trefoil factors