Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18550773›Full record

ArticleMolecular endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.)2008

Estrogen regulates Snail and Slug in the down-regulation of E-cadherin and induces metastatic potential of ovarian cancer cells through estrogen receptor alpha.

Se-Hyung Park, Lydia W T Cheung, Alice S T Wong, Peter C K Leung

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Molecular endocrinology (Baltimore, Md.), 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 121 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
121citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.6field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

121 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 200 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Review
  4. Review
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Review
  8. Review
  9. Clinical implications of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cancers which potentially spread to peritoneum.Clinical & translational oncology : official publication of the Federation of Spanish Oncology Societies and of the National Cancer Institute of Mexico · 2025
    Review
  10. The Role of Heavy Metals in the Biology of Female Cancers.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Review
  11. Article
  12. Review
  13. Epigenetic Modulation of Estrogen Receptor Signaling in Ovarian Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024
    Review
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Review
  18. Article
  19. Estrogens, Estrogen Receptors and Tumor Microenvironment in Ovarian Cancer.International journal of molecular sciences · 2023
    Review
  20. Review

61 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Se-Hyung ParkDepartment of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of British Columbia, 2H-30, 4490 Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada V6H 3V5.
Lydia W T Cheung
Alice S T Wong
Peter C K Leung
University of British Columbia · CAUniversity of Hong Kong · HK

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Tumorigenesis is a multistep process involving dysregulated cell growth and metastasis. Considerable evidence implicates a mitogenic action of estrogen in early ovarian carcinogenesis. In contrast, its influence in the metastatic cascade of ovarian tumor cells remains obscure. In the present study, we showed that 17beta-estradiol (E2) increased the metastatic potential of human epithelial ovarian cancer cell lines. E2 treatment led to clear morphological changes characteristic of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and an enhanced cell migratory propensity. These morphological and functional alterations were associated with changes in the abundance of EMT-related genes. Upon E2 stimulation, expression and promoter activity of the epithelial marker E-cadherin were strikingly suppressed, whereas EMT-associated transcription factors, Snail and Slug, were significantly up-regulated. This up-regulation was attributed to the increase in gene transcription activated by E2. Depletion of endogenous Snail or Slug using small interfering RNA (siRNA) attenuated E2-mediated decrease in E-cadherin. In addition, E2-induced cell migration was also neutralized by the siRNAs, suggesting that both transcription factors are indispensable for the prometastatic actions of E2. More importantly, by using selective estrogen receptor (ER) agonists, forced expression, and siRNA approaches, we identified that E2 triggered the metastatic behaviors exclusively through an ERalpha-dependent pathway. We also showed that ERbeta had an opposing action on ERalpha because the presence of ERbeta completely inhibited the EMT and down-regulation of E-cadherin induced by ERalpha. Collectively, this study provides a compelling argument that estrogen can potentiate tumor progression by EMT induction and highlights the crucial role of ERalpha in ovarian tumorigenesis.

Indexed as

Base SequenceCadherinsCell Line, TumorCell MovementDown-RegulationEstradiolEstrogen Receptor alphaEstrogen Receptor betaFemaleHumansOvarian NeoplasmsPromoter Regions, GeneticRNA, Small InterferingSnail Family Transcription FactorsTranscription FactorsUp-RegulationCadherinsEstradiolEstrogen Receptor alphaEstrogen Receptor betaRNA, Small InterferingSNAI1 protein, humanSnail Family Transcription FactorsTranscription Factors

Identifiers

PMID18550773
PMCPMC5419456
OpenAlexW2029915978

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.