Genic and proteic expression of markers of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, its relation with the EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) phenotype and your correlation with the prognosis of canine mammary neoplasms

• Grant number: 13/08822-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: October 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Veterinary Medicine - Animal Clinics and Surgery
• Principal Investigator: Mirela Tinucci Costa
• Grantee: Erika Maria Terra
• Supervisor: Camilo Bulla
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Agrárias e Veterinárias (FCAV). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Jaboticabal. Jaboticabal , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Mississippi State University (MSU), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 10/17366-0 - Genic and proteic expression of markers of Wnt/beta-catenin pathway, its relation with the EMT (epithelial-mesenchymal transition) phenotype and your correlation with the prognosis of canine mammary neoplasms., BP.DR

Abstract

Mammary tumors are frequently diagnosed in bitches and have a very similar biological behavior to the ones that occur in women, turning the former an excellent model for comparative studies. In malignancies, invasion and metastasis are important biological features that have direct influence on the patient´s prognosis. Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) has been suggested to facilitate migration and the occurrence of metastasis. Thus, this study aim to evaluate, by immunohistochemistry, the EMT in canine mammary tumors using markers of epithelial and mesenchymal cells (e-cadherin, ²-catenin, vimentin, pan-citokeratin and n-cadherin). In addition, the genic and proteic expressions of two key genes involved in EMT (WNT and APC) by qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry and their relation to neoplastic progression of mammary tumors in female dogs will be evaluated. Therefore, 90 bitches will be used and two groups will be formed: "Benign group (BG)" consisting of 30 adenomas and the "Carcinoma group (CG)" composed by 60 carcinomas with or without metastasis. Fifty percent of the cases from each group will be randomly selected for qRT-PCR technique. Results will be evaluated for the presence of each marker in tissues, its relation with the tumor biological behavior and the presentation of recurrence and/or metastasis by Chi-Square test (p<0,05). This way, it is expected that this study may help the understanding of the involvement of EMT in metastasis production and may provide data about the prognosis of canine mammary tumors. (AU)