Aberrant expression of E-cadherin in cervical intraepithelial neoplasia correlates with a false-negative Papanicolaou smear.
OBJECTIVE
E-cadherin is responsible for cell adhesion in normal cervical epithelium. It is normally absent in the superficial epithelial layers, allowing for exfoliation. We investigated the correlation between E-cadherin distribution and Papanicolaou smear in subjects with cervical dysplasia.


METHODS
Tissue samples from 25 women with cervical dysplasia were tested for E-cadherin, beta-catenin, and alpha-catenin expression by immunohistochemistry. The expression pattern of these proteins, whether full thickness or restricted to the basal layers, was correlated with the Papanicolaou smear result.


RESULTS
Of 12 women with normal Papanicolaou smears, 10 of 11 informative cases demonstrated E-cadherin expression throughout all epithelial layers. Eight of 10 informative cases with an abnormal Papanicolaou smear showed E-cadherin only at the basal layers. Alpha-catenin was distributed throughout the entire epithelium in samples of all 25 women.


CONCLUSIONS
Expression of E-cadherin throughout all epithelial layers was correlated with a false-negative Papanicolaou smear. It is likely that aberrant persistence of E-cadherin in these lesions interferes with the exfoliation of abnormal cells.
Felix
Juan C
JC
Department of Pathology and Obstetrics and Gynecology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles 90033, USA. felix@hsc.usc.edu
Lonky
Neal M
NM
Tamura
Kimi
K
Yu
Ken-Jen
KJ
Naidu
Yathi
Y
Lai
Chung-Rui
CR
Lonky
Stewart A
SA
D000328:Adult; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D005188:False Negative Reactions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D065006:Papanicolaou Test; D012016:Reference Values; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D015534:Trans-Activators; D002583:Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D014626:Vaginal Smears; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin; D002578:Uterine Cervical Dysplasia / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*
C495273:CTNNA1 protein, human; C495270:CTNNB1 protein, human; D015820:Cadherins; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D015534:Trans-Activators; D051178:alpha Catenin; D051176:beta Catenin