title: N-cadherin expression is involved in malignant behavior of head and neck cancer in relation to epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
abstract: The loss of E-cadherin and the gain of N-cadherin expression are known as "cadherin switching". Cadherin switching is a major hallmark of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). EMT is a crucial process in cancer progression, providing cancer cells with the ability to escape from the primary focus, to invade stromal tissues and to migrate to distant regions. Although down-regulation of E-cadherin is well known in various cancers, there are a few studies on N-cadherin expression in cancer. Here, therefore, we investigated whether N-cadherin expression was associated with the progression of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). First, we examined the expression of N-cadherin by immunohistochemistry and its correlation with clinico-pathological findings. High expression of N-cadherin was observed in 52 of 80 HNSCC cases and was significantly correlated with malignant behaviors. Next, we examined the correlation between N-cadherin and E-cadherin. Cadherin switching (high expression of N-cadherin and low expression of E-cadherin) was found in 30 of 80 HNSCC cases and was well correlated with histological differentiation, pattern of invasion and lymph node metastasis in HNSCC cases. Moreover, we examined the expression of N-cadherin and E-cadherin by RT-PCR in 16 HNSCC cell lines to confirm the immunohistochemical findings. N-cadherin expression was observed in 7 of 16 HNSCC cells, and cadherin switching was observed in 2 HNSCC cells. Interestingly, HNSCC cells with cadherin switching have EMT features. In conclusion, we suggest that i) N-cadherin may play an important role in malignant behaviors of HNSCC, and ii) cadherin switching might be considered as a discrete critical event in EMT and metastatic potential of HNSCC.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathobiology, Division of Frontier Medical Science, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, Japan.
authors.forename: Phuong Thao
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Yasusei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kudo
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Kamata
authors.forename: Ikuko
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Ogawa
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Takata
mesh_terms: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D018450:Disease Progression; D004847:Epithelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D058750:Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D015820:Cadherins