Expression data from Snail over-expressing non-small cell lung cancer cell lines

Snail is a zinc-finger transcription factor best known for its ability to down-regulate E-cadherin. Its established significance in embryology and organogenesis has been expanded to include a role in the tumor progression of a number of human cancers. In addition to E-cadherin, it has more recently been associated with the down-regulation and up-regulation of a number of other genes that affect important malignant phenotypes. After establishing the presence of up-regulated Snail in human non-small cell lung cancer specimens, we used microarrays to detail the global programme of gene expression in non-small cell lung cancer cell lines stably transduced to over-express Snail as compared to vector control cell lines. Non-small cell lung cancer cell lines (H441, H292, H1437) were stably transduced with a retroviral vector to over-express Snail. Elevated Snail and a corresponding down-regulation of E-cadherin was verified in the Snail over-expressing cell lines as compared to vector control cell lines by Western analysis. RNA extraction was performed and samples submitted to the UCLA Clinical Microarray Core for hybridization to Affymetrix arrays.