title: Paranuaclear E-cadherin in gastric adenocarcinoma.
abstract: Decreased E-cadherin expression permits dissociation and widespread dissemination of gastric adenocarcinoma cells. We studied the relationship between paranuclear E-cadherin distribution and the histopathologic characteristics of gastric adenocarcinomas. E-cadherin immunostains of 173 gastric adenocarcinoma sections revealed paranuclear; punctate to vesicular staining in 18% (16/87) of the intestinal-type adenocarcinomas, 30% (17/56) of the diffuse-type adenocarcinomas, and 30% (9/30) of the mired adenocarcinomas. These data suggest that in some gastric adenocarcinomas, there is a defect in transport of E-cadherin to the cell surface, which may prevent intercellular adhesion and encourage dissemination. Of 34 cancers with paranuclear E-cadherin staining, 20 (59%) had paranuclear staining within the nonneoplastic epithelium, but only 22.0% of 100 carcinomas with absent or membranous E-cadherin staining were accompanied by morphologically benign epithelium with paranuclear E-cadherin. In surface epithelium, paranuclear E-cadherin staining colocalized with Griffonia simplicifolia lectin II in the Golgi apparatus. The presence of paranuclear E-cadherin in cancer-associated benign epithelium suggests that the alteration in the E-cadherin molecule responsible for the paranuclear distribution may be an early change in gastric adenocarcinoma progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of California, Irvine Medical Center, Orange 92868, USA.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Carpenter
authors.forename: Rasha A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Al-Kuran
authors.forename: Charles P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Theuer
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005753:Gastric Mucosa / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D006056:Golgi Apparatus / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D037121:Plant Lectins; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000648:ultrastructure*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C045475:Griffonia simplicifolia lectins; D037121:Plant Lectins