Defected expression of E-cadherin in non-small cell lung cancer.
Reduced expression of E-cadherin, a cell-cell adhesion molecule, was frequently observed in several types of human carcinomas, and the protein plays a role as an invasion suppressor in vitro. In an attempt to evaluate the significance of E-cadherin gene in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), we undertook the immunohistochemical and molecule structural analyses of E-cadherin gene in 40 resection specimens of NSCLC and the corresponding paracarcinoma controls. E-cadherin expression was explored by immunohistochemistry with a monoclonal antibody, and the E-cadherin gene was studied by polymerase chain reaction single-strand conformation polymorphism analysis (PCR-SSCP). The analysis represented in this study demonstrated clear reduction in the expression of E-cadherin proteins in the cancer tissues. However, only in one amplicon were aberrant bands detected, which was a single polymorphic site (codon 692; exon 13), and no somatic mutation was found. These results indicated that defected E-cadherin expression might play a role in the development of malignant phenotype in NSCLC, even though the genetic mutation of E-cadherin gene is not involved in the pathogenesis of NSCLC and does not appear to be direct cause for the reduced expression of E-cadherin gene.
Laboratory of Population and Quantitative Genetics, Institute of Genetics, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, PR China.
Qingyan
Q
Fei
Hongtao
H
Zhang
Xiaofeng
X
Chen
Jiu-Cun
JC
Wang
Rongmei
R
Zhang
Weiqing
W
Xu
Zhen
Z
Zhang
Wei
W
Zou
Kangyu
K
Zhang
Qingyuan
Q
Qi
Minghua
M
Wang
Shiheng
S
Tao
Zewei
Z
Luo
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018196:Carcinoma, Adenosquamous / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000556:secondary; D002289:Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D004252:DNA Mutational Analysis; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm / Q000235:genetics; D015536:Down-Regulation; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018807:Polymorphism, Single-Stranded Conformational; D015183:Restriction Mapping
D015820:Cadherins; D004273:DNA, Neoplasm