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Ovarian cancer is a serious threat to women's health. Multidrug resistance is a major cause of post-treatment relapse, metastasis, and even mortality. This characteristic severely restricts the survival of patients with ovarian cancer. Integrin α-6 (ITGA6) is a member of the adhesion molecule family that conducts signals through interactions between the extracellular domain and the matrix, serving important roles in cell adhesion-mediated drug resistance, which is considered to have a critical function in ovarian cancer drug resistance. The association between ITGA6 and ovarian cancer multidrug resistance has been investigated only rarely, to the best of our knowledge. Using RT-qPCR and immunohistochemistry, it was identified that ITGA6 is a central drug resistance gene, and that its expression was upregulated in cisplatin-resistant SKOV3 (SKOV3/DDP2), cisplatin-resistant A2780 (A2780/DDP) cells, and in 54 cases of drug-resistant tissues, as compared with in the controls. Furthermore, bioinformatics and text mining performed by Coremine Medical (http://www.coremine.com/medical/#search) confirmed that ITGA6 was significantly associated with ovarian cancer and drug resistance. Additionally, the high expression of ITGA6 is associated with a poor outcome. The present study provides the basis for further understanding the role of ITGA6 in the regulation of drug resistance in ovarian cancer, and demonstrates that it could be a potential marker for the prognosis of ovarian cancer.

Gallbladder cancer (GBC) is a rare but highly aggressive cancer for which no well-accepted prognostic biomarkers have been identified. Thymus cell antigen 1 (Thy1), also known as cluster of differentiation (CD)90, and integrin α6 (ITGA6), also known as CD49f, are important molecules in cancer and putative markers of various stem cell types. However, their role in GBC remains to be elucidated. In the present study, Thy1 and ITGA6 expression status in clinical GBC samples, which comprised squamous cell/adenosquamous carcinoma (SC/ASC) and adenocarcinoma (AC) subtypes, was investigated. The associations between Thy1 and ITGA6 expression and clinical parameters and survival rate were analyzed separately. The THY1 and ITGA6 messenger RNA levels were significantly higher in both SC/ASC and AC tissues than in adjacent non-tumor tissues (all P

The present study aimed to investigate the genes and signaling pathways associated with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) by bioinformatics analysis. For this purpose, the GSE2503 was downloaded from the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between 6 normal skin and 5 SCC samples were analyzed using the Linear Models for Microarray Data package. Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway enrichment analysis of DEGs were performed, followed by functional annotation and construction of a protein-protein interaction (PPI) network. Subnetwork modules were subsequently identified and analyzed. A total of 181 DEGs, including 95 upregulated and 86 downregulated DEGs, were identified, in addition to 20 GO biological processes terms enriched by upregulated DEGs and 14 enriched by downregulated DEGs. The upregulated DEGs were enriched in 18 pathways, and the downregulated DEGs were enriched in 7 pathways. Following functional annotation, three upregulated transcription factors (TFs), including hypoxia inducible factor 1, alpha subunit (HIF1A), and six downregulated TFs were identified. In the PPI network and subnetwork, matrix metallopeptidase 1 (MMP1), also known as interstitial collagenase, and interleukin 8 (IL8) were the hub genes with the highest degree of connectivity (degree =8). Integrin alpha (ITGA)6 and 2 were enriched in several pathways, including focal adhesion and extracellular matrix-receptor interaction. DEGs of SCC were primarily enriched in pathways associated with cancer and cell adhesion. Therefore, DEGs such as IL8, MMP1, HIF1A, ITGA6 and ITGA2 may be potential targets for the diagnosis and treatment of SCC.