No evidence for mutations in the alpha- and beta-catenin genes in human gastric and breast carcinomas.
Disturbed function of E-cadherin and/or of one of its anchoring proteins, the catenins, is thought to destabilize E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion, which may enhance the invasiveness of epithelial cells and thus favor carcinoma progression. Reduced expression of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin, as well as mutations in the E-cadherin gene, have been found in various carcinomas, whereas mutations in the alpha- and beta-catenin genes have been described only in carcinoma cell lines. Using reverse transcription-PCR, followed by agarose gel electrophoresis and single-strand conformational polymorphism, we examined 16 diffuse- and 5 intestinal-type gastric carcinomas, as well as 9 lobular and 2 ductal breast carcinomas, for mutations of alpha- and beta-catenin cDNA. All of the investigated tumors were analyzed previously for E-cadherin mutations. Comparing tumorous and nontumorous samples, we detected neither deletions nor aberrant single-strand conformational polymorphism patterns. At nucleotide 2220 of the alpha-catenin gene, we identified one frequent polymorphism. Our findings suggest that, in contrast to E-cadherin, mutations of alpha- and beta-catenin do not contribute to the pathogenesis or the diffuse growth patterns of gastric or breast carcinomas.
GSF-Forschungszentrum für Umwelt und Gesundheit, Institut für Pathologie, Oberschleissheim, Germany.
S
S
Candidus
P
P
Bischoff
K F
KF
Becker
H
H
Höfler
D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin
C495273:CTNNA1 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin