Increased expression and aberrant localization of mucin 13 in metastatic colon cancer.
MUC13 is a newly identified transmembrane mucin. Although MUC13 is known to be overexpressed in ovarian and gastric cancers, limited information is available regarding the expression of MUC13 in metastatic colon cancer. Herein, we investigated the expression profile of MUC13 in colon cancer using a novel anti-MUC13 monoclonal antibody (MAb, clone ppz0020) by immunohistochemical (IHC) analysis. A cohort of colon cancer samples and tissue microarrays containing adjacent normal, non-metastatic colon cancer, metastatic colon cancer, and liver metastasis tissues was used in this study to investigate the expression pattern of MUC13. IHC analysis revealed significantly higher (p<0.001) MUC13 expression in non-metastatic colon cancer samples compared with faint or very low expression in adjacent normal tissues. Interestingly, metastatic colon cancer and liver metastasis tissue samples demonstrated significantly (p<0.05) higher cytoplasmic and nuclear MUC13 expression compared with non-metastatic colon cancer and adjacent normal colon samples. Moreover, cytoplasmic and nuclear MUC13 expression correlated with larger and poorly differentiated tumors. Four of six tested colon cancer cell lines also expressed MUC13 at RNA and protein levels. These studies demonstrate a significant increase in MUC13 expression in metastatic colon cancer and suggest a correlation between aberrant MUC13 localization (cytoplasmic and nuclear expression) and metastatic colon cancer.
Cancer Biology Research Center, Sanford Research, University of South Dakota, Sioux Falls, SD, USA.
Brij K
BK
Gupta
Diane M
DM
Maher
Mara C
MC
Ebeling
Vasudha
V
Sundram
Michael D
MD
Koch
Douglas W
DW
Lynch
Teresa
T
Bohlmeyer
Akira
A
Watanabe
Hiroyuki
H
Aburatani
Susan E
SE
Puumala
Meena
M
Jaggi
Subhash C
SC
Chauhan
D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003106:Colon / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008099:Liver / Q000473:pathology*; D008113:Liver Neoplasms / Q000556:secondary*; D009077:Mucins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D046888:Tissue Array Analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation
C429552:MUC13 protein, human; D009077:Mucins; D012313:RNA