Cytoplasmic ?-catenin in esophageal cancers

Autor: Kenshu Kawanishi, Masatoshi Inoue, Makoto Yamamoto, Yutaka Kimura, Morito Monden, Yuichiro Doki, Takehiro Utsunomiya, Nariaki Fukuchi, Hitoshi Shiozaki, Toshimasa Tsujinaka
Rok vydání: 1999
Předmět:
Zdroj: International Journal of Cancer. 84:174-178
ISSN: 1097-0215
0020-7136
DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19990420)84:2<174::aid-ijc14>3.0.co;2-e
Popis: beta-Catenin has 2 distinct roles in E-cadherin-mediated cell adhesion and carcinogenesis through APC gene mutation. One occurs at cell-adhesion sites, where cadherins become linked to the actin-based cytoskeleton. The others occur in the cytoplasm and nuclei and are thought to regulate cell transformation. We studied these different beta-catenins and evaluated their significance in carcinogenesis. Fresh surgical specimens were obtained from 22 patients with squamous-cell carcinoma of the esophagus. beta-Catenin in the free soluble fraction and the insoluble fraction was immunoblotted separately. At the same time, its localization was observed by immuno-histochemical techniques. In the normal esophageal epithelium, 91% of beta-catenin was detected in the insoluble fraction and beta-catenin staining occurred at the cell membrane, in co-existence with E-cadherin. In cancerous tissues, the amount of soluble beta-catenin was significantly (about 4-fold) higher than in normal tissues. Also, in cancerous tissues with higher amounts of soluble beta-catenin, immuno-histochemical techniques revealed the presence of beta-catenin in the cytoplasm and nuclei, as well as in the cell membrane. However, in samples with lower amounts of beta-catenin, expression was found only at the cell boundaries. The amount of soluble beta-catenin was not associated with the clinico-pathological grading of the tumors. Our results show that the accumulation of free soluble beta-catenin in the cytoplasm and nuclei frequently occurs during carcinogenesis of the squamous epithelium of the esophagus.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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