SNAI1 and tongue cancer: We found that in both Cal27 epithelial tongue cancer cells and UM1 mesenchymal tongue cancer cells, silencing of HMGA2 inhibited the expression of Snail and two classical mesenchymal cell markers, N-cadherin and vimentin, whereas the epithelial cell marker, E-cadherin expression was elevated, indicating that there is a potential correlation between HMGA2 and Snail (Fig. 5a).