title: P-cadherin in adhesion and invasion: opposite roles in colon and bladder carcinoma.
abstract: Neoexpression or upregulation of placental cadherin (P-cadherin), a member of the classical cadherin family, has previously been described in several carcinomas, such as colorectal and bladder carcinomas. In this study, we combined two different approaches, immunohistochemistry of tumor samples and in vitro knockdown of P-cadherin, to gain a better insight into the role of P-cadherin in these types of cancer. First, we performed immunohistochemistry for P- and E-cadherins in a series of 52 colorectal adenocarcinomas, including well, moderately and poorly differentiated (WD, MD, and PD) tumors. Decrease or loss of P-cadherin neoexpression was significantly associated with a higher tumor grade and could discriminate WD from MD and/or PD tumors (p < 0.001). E-cadherin, on the other hand, was strongly expressed at the membrane of most WD (18 of 19) and MD tumors (15 of 19). Downregulation correlated significantly with the PD phenotype (p ≤ 0.001). In a second approach, we transiently or stably knocked down P-cadherin in HT-29 colon adenocarcinoma cells. This led to decreased intercellular adhesion and to an increased migratory and long-term invasive phenotype compared with control HT-29 cells, suggesting that P-cadherin acts as a proadhesive and anti-invasive/antimigratory molecule in colon carcinoma cells. Contrasting with these results and illustrating the context-specific function of P-cadherin were our results obtained in RT-112 bladder carcinoma cells. Stable knockdown of P-cadherin in RT-112 cells diminished invasion and migration, and promoted intercellular adhesion.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Laboratory of Experimental Cancer Research, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium. marc1.bracke@ugent.be
authors.forename: Veerle
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Van Marck
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stove
authors.forename: Koen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Jacobs
authors.forename: Gert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Van den Eynden
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bracke
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D015153:Blotting, Western; D015820:Cadherins / Q000502:physiology*; D002448:Cell Adhesion / Q000502:physiology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D017931:DNA Primers; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness / Q000503:physiopathology*; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; D017931:DNA Primers