The role of ZEB1 in the inflammation-induced promotion of EMT in HNSCC.

Objectives: To determine the role of ZEB1 in the inflammation-induced promotion of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC).

Study Design: A molecular biology study. Real-time quantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), Western blot analysis, and immunohistochemical staining of human HNSCC tissue sections were used to determine how inflammation affects the transcriptional repressor, ZEB1.

Setting: An academic hospital laboratory.

Subjects And Methods: Relative ZEB1 RNA levels were determined by RT-PCR, and protein expression was evaluated in situ by immunohistochemical staining of human HNSCC tissue sections.

Results: IL-1beta-treated HNSCC cell lines demonstrated a significant decrease in E-cadherin mRNA and an increase in the mRNA expression of the transcriptional repressor ZEB1. IL-1beta exposure led to enhanced ZEB1 binding at the chromatin level, as determined by chromatin immunoprecipitation assays (ChIP). An inverse relationship between ZEB1 and E-cadherin was demonstrated in situ by immunohistochemical staining of human HNSCC tissue sections.

Conclusions: Our recent investigations indicate that inflammatory mediators are potent regulators of EMT in HNSCC. This is the first report indicating the role of ZEB1 in the inflammation-induced promotion of EMT in HNSCC. This newly defined pathway for transcriptional regulation of E-cadherin in HNSCC has important implications for targeted chemoprevention and therapy.