The Expression And Relationship Of ZEB1,E-cadherin And Vimentin In Human Bladder Transitional Cell Carcinoma

Objective:To observe the expression of zinc finger E-box binding homeobox1(ZEB1) in normal bladder tissues and tissues of bladder transitional cell carcinoma(BTCC), and to investigate the potential correlation of ZEB1protein expression with clinicopathological features such as gender, age, pathological grade, clinical stage, single or multiple tumor, incipience or recurrence of tumor and tumor size and so on of BTCC. To investigate the relationship between the expression of ZEB1, E-cadherin and Vimentin in BTCC in order to provide clues for further studying the role of ZEB1in the occurrence and development of BTCC and its possible molecular mechanism.Methods:Immunohistochemical staining was performed on paraffin embedded sections to detect the expression of ZEB1, E-cadherin and Vimentin in86cases of BTCC and16normal bladder tissue from clinical patients, and to analyze their expression in BTCC and normal bladder mucosa by method of statistics to determine the differences whether was statistically significant. The association was analyzed on expression between ZEB1, E-cadherin and Vimentin with clinicopathological features of BTCC and the relation about expression between them in BTCC.Results:The positive rate39.5%(34/86) of ZEB1expression in BTCC was significantly higher than0(0/16) in normal bladder tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). The difference of ZEB1expression in BTCC with gender, age, single or multiple tumor, incipience or recurrence of tumor and tumor size was not statistically significant (P>0.05), but the difference with pathological grade and clinical stage was statistically significant for the positive rate48.3%(28/58) of its expression in high-grade BTCC(G2-3) was higher than21.4%(6/28) in low-grade BTCC(G1)(P＜0.05), and the positive rate53.8%(28/52) in muscle invasive BTCC(T2-4) was higher than17.6%(6/34) in non-muscle invasive BTCC(Ta-1)(P＜0.01). The abnormal rate61.6%(53/86) of E-cadherin expression in BTCC was significantly higher than12.5%(2/16) in normal bladder tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (P＜0.01). The difference of E-cadherin expression in BTCC with gender, age, single or multiple tumor, incipience or recurrence of tumor and tumor size was not statistically significant (P>0.05), but the difference with pathological grade and clinical stage was statistically significant for the abnormal rate69.0%(40/58) in high-grade BTCC(G2-3) was higher than46.6%(13/28) in low-grade BTCC(G1)(P<0.05), and the abnormal rate71.2%(37/52) in muscle invasive BTCC(T2-4) was higher than47.1%(16/34) in non-muscle invasive BTCC(Ta-1)(P＜0.05). The positive rate53.5%(46/86) of Vimentin expression in BTCC was significantly higher than0(0/16) in normal bladder tissues, and the difference was statistically significant (P<0.01). The difference of Vimentin expression in BTCC with gender, age, single or multiple tumor, incipience or recurrence of tumor and tumor size was not statistically significant (P>0.05), but the difference with pathological grade and clinical stage was statistically significant for the positive rate63.8%(37/58) in high-grade BTCC(G2-3) was higher than32.1%(9/28) in low-grade BTCC(G1)(P＜0.01), and the positive rate63.5%(33/52) in muscle invasive BTCC(T2-4) was higher than38.2%(13/34) in non-muscle invasive BTCC(Ta-1)(P＜0.05). In bladder transitional cell carcinoma, positive expression of ZEB1with E-cadherin abnormal expression was positively correlated (P<0.05, r=0.247) positive expression of ZEB1with Vimentin positive expression was positively correlated (P＜0.05, r=0.230), and abnormal expression of E-cadherin with Vimentin positive expression was positively correlated (P＜0.05, r=0.271).Conclusions:The expression of ZEB1protein was related to the pathological grade and clinical stage of BTCC, but the level of its expression was not associated with gender, age, single or multiple tumor, incipience or recurrence of tumor and tumor size. The correlation found between the expression of ZEB1, E-cadherin and Vimentin suggested that ZEB1may be involved in the regulation of EMT, and the expression of E-cadherin and Vimentin may be regulated by ZEB1. Our study may provide a new research direction to control the invasion and metastasis of malignant cells, and ZEB1may become a new target for treatment of tumor.