Epithelial-cadherin gene is not mutated in ductal carcinomas of the breast.
We investigated mutations of the epithelial (E)-cadherin gene and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) at flanking loci using three microsatellite markers on the long arm of chromosome 16 in 25 ductal carcinomas of the breast. Expression of E-cadherin was also investigated immunohistochemically. No mutations were detected in exons 6 through 9 of the E-cadherin gene. LOH was observed more frequently (42%) at D16S402 (16q-ter) than at D16S421 (16q22.3-q23.1) (17%), which is located near the E-cadherin gene. Expression of E-cadherin was observed at the cell borders in 92% (11/12) of the tumors examined. The absence of mutations in the E-cadherin gene and its conserved expression suggest that inactivation of E-cadherin does not contribute significantly to the invasion or metastatic potential of ductal carcinomas of the breast. Furthermore, the high frequency of LOH at 16q-ter suggests the existence of another tumor suppressor gene which may play a crucial role in the genesis of ductal carcinomas of the breast.
Kashiwaba
M
M
Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, Iwate Medical University, Morioka.
Tamura
G
G
Suzuki
Y
Y
Maesawa
C
C
Ogasawara
S
S
Sakata
K
K
Satodate
R
R
D002293:Adenocarcinoma, Scirrhous / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D000782:Aneuploidy; D001483:Base Sequence; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D015820:Cadherins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D018270:Carcinoma, Ductal, Breast / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D002285:Carcinoma, Intraductal, Noninfiltrating / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D004276:DNA, Satellite / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen / Q000032:analysis
D015820:Cadherins; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm; D004276:DNA, Satellite; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D011960:Receptors, Estrogen