Expression of Wnt5a gene in breast cancer cell line MCF-7 and its relationship with E-cadherin or vimentin

Objective To investigate the relationship between Wnt5a gene and E-cadherin or vimentin gene in breast cancer cell line MCF-7. Methods RT-PCR was used to detect the mRNA expression of Wnt5a, E-cadherin and vimentin in breast cancer MCF-7 cells and the normal human mammary epithelial cell line MCF-10A, respectively, and their correlation was analyzed. Results The mRNA expression levels of Wnt5a and E-cadherin in cell line MCF-7 were significantly lower than those in cell line MCF-10A [(16.93±2.97) % vs. (27.47±2.76) %, (12.97±1.35) % vs. (20.43±2.60) %, both P<0.05]. The mRNA expression level of vimentin in cell line MCF-7 was significantly higher than that in cell line MCF-10A [(16.53±0.85) % (6.33±2.08) %, P<0.05]. In cell line MCF-7, the expression of Wnt5a was positively related to E-cadherin (r=0.997, P<0.05), but it was negatively related to vimentin (r=-0.998, P<0.05). Conclusions The expression of Wnt5a in human breast cancer cell line MCF-7 is significantly lower than that in cell line MCF-10A, which indicates that Wnt5a is a cancer suppressor gene in breast cancer. The expression of Wnt5a in cell line MCF-7 is positively related with E-cadherin, and it is negatively related with vimentin. Wnt5a may cause invasion and metastasis of breast cancer cell through the breast epithelial mesenchymal transitions. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Wnt5a; E-cadherin; Vimentin; Epithelial-mesenchymal transition