Expression of Engrailed-2 and β-catenin in bladder urothelial carcinoma and their significance / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the expressions of Engrailed-2 (EN2) and β-catenin in bladder urothelial carcinoma and explore their significance.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Sixty bladder urothelial carcinoma samples of different grades and stages and 10 normal bladder mucosal tissues were examined for expressions of EN2 and β-catenin proteins and mRNA using immunochemistry, Western blotting and RT-PCR. RESULTS Compared to normal bladder mucosa, bladder urothelial carcinoma tissues showed significantly increased expressions of EN2 and β-catenin proteins (P<0.05), and the high-grade carcinoma tissues exhibited significantly stronger expressions than the low-grade ones (P<0.05); the expressions of the proteins increased also significantly with advanced pathological stages of bladder urothelial carcinoma (P<0.05). The expressions of EN2 and β-catenin mRNAs showed a consistent pattern of changes with their protein expressions.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The expressions of EN2 and β-catenin are significantly increased in bladder urothelial carcinoma. EN2 may contribute to the development and progression of bladder urothelial carcinoma by activating Wnt/β-catenin signal pathway.</p>