Activation of Snail1 signaling promotes the migration and invasion of multiple tumors, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). However, the molecular mechanism that augments Snail1 signaling during GBM cell migration and invasion remains largely unknown. Identification of the factors that regulate Snail1 signaling is critical to block tumor cell migration and invasion. By screening human GBM s...

SNAIL1 has been suggested to regulate breast cancer metastasis based on analyses of human breast tumor transcriptomes and experiments using cancer cell lines and xenografts. However, in vivo genetic experimental support for a role for SNAIL1 in breast cancer metastasis that develops in an immunocompetent tumor microenvironment has not been determined. To address this question, we created a gene...

Snail1 is a major factor for epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), an important event in tumor metastasis and in other pathologies. Snail1 is tightly regulated at transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels. Control of Snail1 protein stability and nuclear export by GSK3beta phosphorylation is important for Snail1 functionality. Stabilization mechanisms independent of GSK3beta have also be...

Snail1 is a central regulator of epithelial cell adhesion and movement in epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs) during embryo development; a process reactivated during cancer metastasis. While induction of Snail1 transcription precedes EMT induction, post-translational regulation of Snail1 is also critical for determining Snail1's protein level, subcellular localization, and capacity to ...

Palatal fusion is a tightly controlled process which comprises multiple cellular events, including cell movement and differentiation. Midline epithelial seam (MES) degradation is essential to palatal fusion. In this study, we analyzed the function of Snail1 during the degradation of the MES. We also analyzed the mechanism regulating the expression of the Snail1 gene in palatal shelves. Palatal ...

Hypoxic injury to the heart results in cardiac fibrosis that leads to cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. SNAIL1 is a zinc finger transcription factor implicated in fibrosis following organ injury and cancer. To determine if the action of SNAIL1 contributed to cardiac fibrosis following hypoxic injury, we used an endogenous SNAIL1 bioluminescence reporter mice, and SNAIL1 knockout mouse mode...

The product of Snail1 gene is a transcriptional repressor of E-cadherin expression and an inductor of the epithelial-mesenchymal transition in several epithelial tumour cell lines. Transcription of Snail1 is induced when epithelial cells are forced to acquire a mesenchymal phenotype. In this work we demonstrate that Snail1 protein limits its own expression: Snail1 binds to an E-box present in i...

SNAIL1 has been suggested to regulate breast cancer metastasis based on analyses of human breast tumor transcriptomes and experiments using cancer cell lines and xenografts. However, in vivo genetic experimental support for a role for SNAIL1 in breast cancer metastasis that develops in an immunocompetent tumor microenvironment has not been determined. To address this question, we created a gene...

Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) is a key regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) during embryogenesis and in tumors. The effect of TGFβ, on ΕΜΤ, is conveyed by induction of the pro-invasive transcription factor Snail1. In this study, we report that TGFβ stimulates Snail1 sumoylation in aggressive prostate, breast and lung cancer cells. Sumoylation of Snail1 lysine residue 23...

The zinc finger transcription factor Snail1 regulates epithelial to mesenchymal transition, repressing epithelial markers and activating mesenchymal genes. Snail1 is an extremely labile protein degraded by the cytoplasmic ubiquitin-ligases β-TrCP1/FBXW1 and Ppa/FBXL14. Using a short hairpin RNA screening, we have identified FBXL5 as a novel Snail1 ubiquitin ligase. FBXL5 is located in the nucle...