title: Breast cancer metastasis alters acetylcholinesterase activity and the composition of enzyme forms in axillary lymph nodes.
abstract: Because of the probable involvement of cholinesterases (ChEs) in tumorigenesis, this research was addressed to ascertaining whether breast cancer metastasis alters the content of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and/or butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) in axillary lymph nodes (LN). ChE activity was assayed in nine normal (NLN) and seven metastasis-bearing nodes (MLN) from women. AChE and BuChE forms were characterised by sedimentation analyses, hydrophobic chromatography and western blotting. The origin of ChEs in LN was studied by lectin interaction. AChE activity dropped from 21.6 mU/mg (nmol of the substrate hydrolysed per minute and per milligram protein) in NLN to 3.8 mU/mg in MLN (p < 0.001), while BuChE activity (3.6 mU/mg) was little affected. NLN contained globular amphiphilic AChE dimers (G2A, 35%), monomers (G1A, 30%), hydrophilic tetramers (G4H, 8%), and asymmetric species (A4, 23%, and A8, 4%); MLN displayed only G2A (65%) and G1A (35%) AChE forms. NLN and MLN contained G4H (79%), G4A (7%), and G1H (14%) BuChE components. Neither the binding of ChE forms with lectins and antibodies nor the subunit size were altered by metastasis. The higher level of AChE in NLN than in brain and the specific pattern of AChE forms in NLN support its role in immunity. The different profile of AChE forms in NLN and MLN may be useful for diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular-A, Universidad de Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Francisco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Espejo
authors.forename: Juan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cabezas-Herrera
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Illana
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Campoy
authors.forename: Encarnación
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Muñoz-Delgado
authors.forename: Cecilio J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Vidal
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism*; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001365:Axilla; D015153:Blotting, Western; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology*; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000378:metabolism; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D037102:Lectins; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase; D002091:Butyrylcholinesterase