Requirement of the Akt/beta-catenin pathway for uterine carcinosarcoma genesis, modulating E-cadherin expression through the transactivation of slug.

ABSTRACT: Uterine carcinosarcomas (UCSs) are considered to represent true examples of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Akt plays a key role in the induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, but little is known about its involvement in tumorigenesis. Here we examined the functional roles of the Akt/beta-catenin pathway in UCSs. In clinical samples, phospho-Akt (pAkt) expression was found to be significantly increased in mesenchymal compared with epithelial components, exhibiting both positive and negative correlations with nuclear beta-catenin and E-cadherin, respectively. Expression levels of the transcription factor Slug were also significantly up-regulated in the mesenchymal components and strongly correlated with both pAkt and nuclear beta-catenin. In endometrial cancer cell lines, act

SUBMITTER: Saegusa M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2684176 | biostudies-literature | 2009 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature