title: Soluble E-cadherin fragments increased in circulation of cancer patients.
abstract: Monoclonal antibodies were raised against human placental soluble E-cadherins and used in an immunoenzymometric assay to detect soluble E-cadherins in biological fluids. The E-cadherin assay was accurate enough to quantitate the concentration of soluble E-cadherin in the cell culture supernatants. Immunoreactive E-cadherins, identified as existing in the soluble form in normal serum, were shown to have apparent lower molecular mass (approximately 80 kDa) than intact molecules of E-cadherin. We found that the immunoreactive E-cadherin levels in the serum of the studied cancer patients were significantly elevated (mean +/- s.d. 3.80 +/- 2.36 micrograms ml-1, P < 0.0001) when compared with the normal levels (1.99 +/- 0.50 micrograms ml-1). We also found that serum E-cadherin levels in the 22 patients with gastric cancer (3.51 +/- 1.78 micrograms ml-1, P < 0.02) or the 11 patients with hepatocellular cancer (5.55 +/- 3.11 micrograms ml-1, P < 0.001) were significantly higher than those in the 26 diabetic patients (2.33 +/- 1.58 micrograms ml-1). Of the 54 cancer patients, 53.7% exhibited an elevated amount of soluble E-cadherin in serum. Thus, it is evident that soluble E-cadherin in circulation can be used as a prospective tumour marker that accurately reflects the progressive regeneration of E-cadherin at tumour sites, potentially induced by tumour-associated proteolytic degradation.
authors.affiliation: Biotechnology Research Laboratories, Takara Shuzo Co., Ltd., Shiga, Japan.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hirai
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kamihagi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakagawa
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yasumoto
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000097:blood*; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood*; D006528:Carcinoma, Hepatocellular / Q000097:blood; D002460:Cell Line; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000097:blood; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D006505:Hepatitis / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000097:blood; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000097:blood*; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000097:blood*; D010920:Placenta; D012016:Reference Values; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins; D010446:Peptide Fragments