engleski

Tracing epithelial–mesenchymal transition in intracranial meningioma

Epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a leading process associated with invasive character of different cancer types and formation of metastasis. The cause of progression and expression of malignant character in a small group of meningioma is still unclear. To investigate the role of EMT in intracranial meningioma progression, main actors of cadherin switch, E- and N-cadherin, as well as EMT transcription factors TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG, were studied. Analyzes of different meningioma grades revealed that genetic changes in CDH1 gene (E-cadherin) were usually accompanied with expression in relation to E-cadherin was shown. Reported low levels of expression or silencing of E-cadherin could be a result of strong TWIST1, SNAIL and SLUG expression. The increase in the TWIST1 expression was accompanied by an increase of the SNAIL and SLUG expression (p = 0.033). Strong expression of SNAIL and SLUG, especially when located in nuclei, was significantly associated with higher meningioma grades (p = 0.001). Still, meningiomas without CDH1 genetic changes were significantly more likely to lack nuclear SNAIL and SLUG expression or it was observed in less than 50% of nuclei, in contrast to samples with CDH1 gene changes (p = 0.000). Our results suggest the role of aberrant EMT in meningioma progression, emphasizing SNAIL and SLUG nuclear expression as potential prognostic marker.

epithelial to mesenchymal transition ; intracranial meningioma ; cadherin switch

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