Moersig W, Horn S, Hilker M, Mayer E, Oelert H
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Johannes Gutenberg Medical School, Mainz, Germany.
Thorac Cardiovasc Surg. 2002 Feb;50(1):45-8. doi: 10.1055/s-2002-20161.
Lung cancer is a major health-care problem in industrialized countries. With reference to its therapeutic consequences and major histological variations, it is divided into two subgroups - SCLC (small-cell lung cancer) and NSCLC (non-small-cell lung cancer). As an important factor of cell-cell and cell-substratum interaction, cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) seem to play a key role in tumor-cell migration and invasion that lead to metastases. We investigated human lung tumor cell lines established from histologically documented neoplastic lesions taken in our operating theater. Immunohistological screening showed differences in E-cadherin expression with no clear predominance of SCLC or NSCLC cell lines. Using an invasion model with Matrigel Matrix and a migration assay, we could demonstrate a more aggressive behavior pattern in E-cadherin-negative cell lines. We transfected E-cadherin cDNA into a formerly negative cell line showing strong invasive behavior in the initial tests in order to investigate the role of E-cadherin in this process. In this study, we examined E-cadherin cDNA transfection in human bronchial carcinoma cells. At present, transfection is stable with a follow-up time of one year. We could demonstrate that cell lines were remarkably less invasive after transfection of E-cadherin in the invasion model with Matrigel Matrix. These results indicate that the E-cadherin CAM plays an important role in lung tumor invasion and metastasis. Further studies are in progress to confirm these findings and to describe a possible role of this CAM in tumor therapy.
肺癌在工业化国家是一个重大的医疗保健问题。鉴于其治疗后果和主要的组织学差异，它被分为两个亚组——小细胞肺癌（SCLC）和非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）。作为细胞间和细胞与基质相互作用的一个重要因素，细胞黏附分子（CAMs）似乎在导致转移的肿瘤细胞迁移和侵袭中起关键作用。我们研究了从我们手术室获取的经组织学记录的肿瘤病变中建立的人肺肿瘤细胞系。免疫组织学筛查显示E-钙黏蛋白表达存在差异，SCLC或NSCLC细胞系均无明显优势。使用基质胶基质侵袭模型和迁移试验，我们能够证明E-钙黏蛋白阴性细胞系具有更具侵袭性的行为模式。我们将E-钙黏蛋白cDNA转染到一个在初始试验中表现出强烈侵袭行为的原阴性细胞系中，以研究E-钙黏蛋白在此过程中的作用。在本研究中，我们检测了人支气管癌细胞中E-钙黏蛋白cDNA的转染情况。目前，转染稳定，随访时间为一年。我们能够证明，在基质胶基质侵袭模型中，转染E-钙黏蛋白后细胞系的侵袭性明显降低。这些结果表明，E-钙黏蛋白CAM在肺肿瘤侵袭和转移中起重要作用。进一步的研究正在进行中，以证实这些发现并描述这种CAM在肿瘤治疗中的可能作用。
