Abstract 3440: YWHAZ promotes slug transcription activity and lung cancer metastasis

Metastasis is a major cause leading to mortality for lung cancer patients and gene copy variation is one common mechanism contributing to human malignancies. To identify the novel metastasis-related genes, an approach combined array comparative genomic hybridization and expression microarray was applied in a lung cancer invasion cell model. YWHAZ was identified as a potential candidate, which plays an important role in a wide variety of cellular processes. Nevertheless, its role and underlying mechanism in lung cancer metastasis remain unclear. In this study, we found that YWHAZ promotes cell proliferation, anchorage-independent growth, invasion and migration in vitro, as well as tumorigenesis and metastasis in vivo. It not only increases cell protrusions and branchings but also induces epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, YWHAZ associates with β-catenin and enhances slug expression which is regulated by the β-catenin/TCF signaling pathway in lung cancer cells. Our findings demonstrate that YWHAZ plays a critical role in promoting invasion and metastasis of human lung adenocarcinoma cells, which might provide new insight into the future treatment of lung cancer. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3440. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3440