title: Exogenous expression of H-cadherin in CHO cells regulates contact inhibition of cell growth by inducing p21 expression.
abstract: The impact of the cadherins in human cancers is becoming better understood. However, few studies have directly tested the hypothesis that H-cadherin, a tailless cadherin, is actually a tumor suppressor, and no published studies have addressed the question of how H-cadherin suppresses cellular transformation. We report here the influence that exogenous expression of H-cadherin imposes on growth, morphology, clonogenicity and tumorigenicity of Chinese hamster ovarian (CHO) cells. H-cadherin expression in CHO cells resulted in tighter adhesion of multicellular aggregates and reduced cell proliferation. In addition to enhancement of cell-cell adhesion, exogenous H-cadherin expression also inhibited cell proliferation and the ability to form colonies in soft agar. Furthermore, expression of H-cadherin in CHO cells led to complete suppression of subcutaneous tumor growth in nude mice. Seeding the H-cadherin expressing CHO cells on culture plates coated with recombinant H-cadherin amino-terminal fragments resulted in inhibition of cell proliferation that was accompanied by increased expression of the cdk inhibitor p21. These results support the role of H-cadherin as a tumor suppressor participating in contact inhibition of cell growth, possibly by inducing p21 expression.
authors.affiliation: Comprehensive Cancer Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY 10461, USA.
authors.forename: Yun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhong
authors.forename: Lluis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lopez-Barcons
authors.forename: Missak
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haigentz
authors.forename: Yi-He
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Ling
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez-Soler
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016466:CHO Cells; D015820:Cadherins / Q000235:genetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D002449:Cell Aggregation / Q000187:drug effects; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002455:Cell Division; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D006224:Cricetinae; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008819:Mice, Nude; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D014162:Transfection; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured / Q000637:transplantation
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C493957:Cdkn1a protein, mouse; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D050759:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p21; C099972:H-cadherin; D011994:Recombinant Proteins