Positive Association of Matrix Proteins Alteration with TAZ and The Progression of High-Grade Bladder Cancer.

Objective: Bladder cancer is the 9 leading cause of human urologic malignancy and the 13 cause of death worldwide. Increased collagen cross-linking, expression and consequently stiffness of extracellular matrix (ECM) may be responsible for the mechanotransduction and regulation of transcriptional co-activator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ) and transforming growth factor β1 (TGF-β1) signaling pathways, resulting in progression of tumorigenesis. The present study aimed to assess whether type 1 collagen expression is associated with TAZ nuclear localization.