Epigenetic control of E-cadherin (CDH1) by CpG methylation in metastasising laryngeal cancer.
Intercellular adhesion is promoted by many-fold structures formed by interacting molecules. One prominent protein family, called cadherins, consists of calcium-dependent proteins contributing to cell differentiation, migration and extracellular signal transduction. E-cadherin, regularly expressed in epithelial tissues, displays aberrant activity patterns in a variety of tumors. We have explored the mode of E-cadherin regulation in 98 biopsy samples from 76 patients with laryngeal carcinoma (80 primary tumors and 18 metastases). Transcriptional silencing of the gene (CDH1) achieved by promoter methylation was tested by a methylation-specific PCR. In primary tumors, CDH1 methylation was noted in 40%. However, 77% of the tested metastases showed CDH1 methylation, 23% remained unmethylated (p<0.01). These data suggest that the E-cadherin promoter is subjected to epigenetic control connected with biological aggressiveness of laryngeal cancer in advanced steps of neoplastic transformation.
Azarschab
Pia
P
University of Tübingen, Institute of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Division of Molecular Genetics, D-72074 Tübingen, Germany.
Stembalska
Agnieszka
A
Loncar
Mirela Baus
MB
Pfister
Markus
M
Sasiadek
Maria M
MM
Blin
Nikolaus
N
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics* / Q000556:secondary; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D018899:CpG Islands / Q000235:genetics*; D019175:DNA Methylation; D017931:DNA Primers / Q000737:chemistry; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D020868:Gene Silencing; D005820:Genetic Testing; D006801:Humans; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics* / Q000473:pathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic
D015820:Cadherins; D017931:DNA Primers