N-cadherin expression and epithelial-mesenchymal transition in pancreatic carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
Loss of intercellular adhesion and increased cell motility promote tumor cell invasion. In the present study, E- and N-cadherin, members of the classical cadherin family, are investigated as inducers of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) that is thought to play a fundamental role during the early steps of invasion and metastasis of carcinomas. Cell growth factors are known to regulate cell adhesion molecules. The purpose of the study presented here was to investigate whether a gain in N-cadherin in pancreatic cancer is involved in the process of metastasis via EMT and whether its expression is affected by growth factors.


METHODS
We immunohistochemically examined the expression of N- and E-cadherins and vimentin, a mesenchymal marker, in pancreatic primary and metastatic tumors. Correlations among the expressions of N-cadherin, transforming growth factor (TGF)beta, and fibroblast growth factor 2 was evaluated in both tumors, and the induction of cadherin and vimentin by growth factors was examined in cultured cell lines.


RESULTS
N-cadherin expression was observed in 13 of 30 primary tumors and in 8 of 15 metastatic tumors. N-cadherin expression correlated with neural invasion (P = 0.008), histological type (P = 0.043), fibroblast growth factor expression in primary tumors (P = 0.007), and TGF expression (P = 0.004) and vimentin (P = 0.01) in metastatic tumors. Vimentin, a mesenchymal marker, was observed in a few cancer cells of primary tumor but was substantially expressed in liver metastasis. TGF stimulated N-cadherin and vimentin protein expression and decreased E-cadherin expression of Panc-1 cells with morphological change.


CONCLUSIONS
This study provided the morphological evidence of EMT in pancreatic carcinoma and revealed that overexpression of N-cadherin is involved in EMT and is affected by growth factors.
Nakajima
Sanae
S
Department of Surgery and Surgical Basic Science, Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan. sana@kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp
Doi
Ryuichiro
R
Toyoda
Eiji
E
Tsuji
Shoichiro
S
Wada
Michihiko
M
Koizumi
Masayuki
M
Tulachan
Sidhartha S
SS
Ito
Daisuke
D
Kami
Kazuhiro
K
Mori
Tomohiko
T
Kawaguchi
Yoshiya
Y
Fujimoto
Koji
K
Hosotani
Ryo
R
Imamura
Masayuki
M
D000368:Aged; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015820:Cadherins / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism; D002448:Cell Adhesion; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D004848:Epithelium / Q000473:pathology*; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000473:pathology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D010179:Pancreas / Q000473:pathology; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism; D015854:Up-Regulation; D014746:Vimentin / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000378:metabolism
D015820:Cadherins; C502403:FAT1 protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D014746:Vimentin; D016222:Fibroblast Growth Factor 2