Expression And Significance Of Epithelial-mesenchymal Transition Related Protein E-cadherin, N-cadherin,Snail And Slug In Endometriosis

Objective:This research detected the expression levels of epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)related proteins E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Snail and Slug among ectopic endometrium, eutopic endometrium and normal endometrium, and analysed their correlation in these tissues, exploring the possible mechanism of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition related proteins in endometriosis(EMs).Methods:The protein levels of E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Snail and Slug were detected by immunohistochemical S-P method in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded samples of30 ectopic and eutopic endometrium of EMs,30 normal endometrium. Computer pathological image analysis system was used in this study. The date was analyzed by SPSS17.0 software package(Kruskal-Wallish H test 、 Mann-Whitney U test and Spearman correlation analysis).Results:1.There was a significant difference for the expression levels of E-cadherin in each group(P<0.01).The expression of eutopic endometrium and ectopic endometrium was lower than normal endometrium(P<0.01),the expression of ectopic endometrium was lower than eutopic endometrium(P<0.01).2.There was a significant difference for the expression levels of N-cadherin,Snail and Slug in each group(P<0.01).The expression of N-cadherin, Snail and Slug in EMs ectopic endometrium and eutopic endometrium was significantly higher than normal endometrium(P<0.01),the expression of ectopic endometrium was significantly higher than the eutopic endometrium(P<0.01).3. In each group, the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, Snail, Slug were negatively related(r=-0.743,P<0.01;r=-0.716,P<0.01;r=-0.777,P<0.01),but positive correlation between the expression of N-cadherin and Snail,Slug(r=0.879,P<0.01;r=0.866,P<0.01),the expression of Snail and Slug were also positively related(r=0.923,P<0.01).Conclusions:1. The expression of N-cadherin, Snail and Slug in EMs eutopic and ectopic endometrium were significantly higher than the control group, but E-cadherin was significantly lower than the control group,suggested that there was certain correlation between the epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT)and EMs. EMT may participate in the implantation, invasion and vascularization of endometrium, leading to endometriosis finally.2. E-cadherin was lower expressed in ectopic and eutopic endometrium,but N-cadherin, Snail and Slug were higher expressed. The expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, Snail, Slug were negatively related,and there were positive correlation between the expression of N-cadherin, Snail and Slug, suggested that they all participated in the occurrence and development of EMs. Snail and Slug may regulate the expression of E-cadherin and N-cadherin, and then affect the phenomenon of EMT in EMs.E-cadherin, N-cadherin, Snail and Slug may become new theoretical basis for EMs diagnosis and treatment.