The transcription factor Snail is involved in gastrula invasion, organogenesis, and cancer cell invasion/ metastasis during early embryogenesis. Snail also has the function of inducing epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The author introduced a Snail gene expression vector into human colon cancer cell line DLD-1 cells to prepare Snail overexpression cells (called DLD-1/Snail cells). DLD-1/Snail cells changed from epithelial-like morphology to mesenchymal cell morphology and decreased proteins levels such as epithelial makers and increased migration and invasion, inducing EMT. As a result of microarray analysis, the expression of α-1,3/4 fucosyltransferase (Fuc-TⅢ) was decreased in DLD-1/Snail cells compared with control cells. Fuc-TⅢ is a glycosyltransferase required to produce the cancer-related chain antigen sialyl-lewis a (sLea). It was a ligand that adhesive to vascular endothelial cells via E-selectin. It has been suggested that sLea is involved in cancer cell metastasis. However, decreased expression of Fuc-TⅢ in DLD-1/Snail cells reduced sLea antigens. The above results found that during EMT induction by Snail, the cells suppressed the fucosyltransferase expression and eliminated the cell surface's sLea antigen.
Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT)
transcription factor Snail
sialyl-lewis a (sLea)