title: Loss of T-cadherin (CDH13, H-cadherin) expression in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
abstract: We previously reported that T-cadherin (CDH13, H-cadherin), a unique cadherin molecule, was expressed on the basal cell layer in normal murine and human epidermis. In the present study, T-cadherin expression in archival human skin specimens comprising a spectrum of human squamous cell neoplasia was investigated. T-cadherin expression was observed in both normal epidermal basal cells and adnexal epithelial cells of formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissue sections. Western immunoblotting also revealed that mature T-cadherin protein was expressed in cultured human skin tissue equivalent. Atypical keratinocytes in 27 of 53 specimens of actinic keratosis and 23 of 30 specimens of Bowen's disease expressed T-cadherin. In contrast, T-cadherin was focally expressed in 6 of 56 invasive cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas. To explore the molecular mechanism of down-regulation of T-cadherin expression in invasive squamous cell carcinoma, loss of heterozygosity, genetic alternations, and methylation status in the 5' region of the T-cadherin gene were investigated. Loss of heterozygosity at intron 1 of the T-cadherin gene was observed in 8 of 28 informative cases of invasive squamous cell carcinoma. Although no structural genomic alternations were found by sequence analysis, aberrant promoter methylation of the T-cadherin gene was found in 12 of 28 invasive squamous cell carcinomas. T-cadherin expression was restored in cultured A431 cells, in which aberrant methylation was found by treatment with the demethylating agent 5'-aza-2-deoxycytidine. These findings suggest that a combination of deletion and aberrant methylation of the T-cadherin gene may play a role in loss of gene expression in a considerable number of invasive cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Kochi Medical School, Kochi, Japan. takeutit@med.kochi-ms.ac.jp
authors.forename: Tamotsu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
authors.forename: Sheng-Ben
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.forename: Norihisa
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matsuyoshi
authors.forename: Shuxia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yoshiki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyachi
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sonobe
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
mesh_terms: D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D015536:Down-Regulation; D017353:Gene Deletion; D006801:Humans; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C099972:H-cadherin