Pignatelli M, Ansari T W, Gunter P, Liu D, Hirano S, Takeichi M, Klöppel G, Lemoine N R
Department of Histopathology, Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London, U.K.
J Pathol. 1994 Dec;174(4):243-8. doi: 10.1002/path.1711740403.
Epithelial cadherin (E-cadherin) is a Ca(2+)-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecule that connects cells via homotypic interactions. Its function is critical in the induction and maintenance of cell polarity and differentiation, and its loss of downregulation is associated with an invasive and poorly differentiated phenotype in colon and other tumors. We have used an avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase technique to localize E-cadherin in microwave-treated, paraffin-embedded sections from 36 patients with pancreatic adenocarcinomas. E-cadherin was expressed by normal ductal and acinar cells with typical membranous staining at the intercellular junctions. Loss of normal surface E-cadherin expression was found in 19/36 (53 per cent) tumours compared to the adjacent normal ductal cells. Abnormal E-cadherin expression was found more frequently in poorly differentiated (grade III) (6/7, 86 per cent) than in well-differentiated tumors (grade I) (4/14, 28 per cent) (P = 0.012). Membranous E-cadherin expression was also lost more frequently in primary tumours with lymph node (stage III) (14/23, 61 per cent) and distant metastasis (stage IV) (2/2, 100 per cent) compared with 3/11 (27 per cent) lymph node-negative tumours (stage I) (P = 0.043). In conclusions, our data indicate that loss of membranous E-cadherin expression is associated with high grade and advanced stage in pancreatic cancer.
上皮钙黏蛋白（E-钙黏蛋白）是一种依赖钙离子的细胞间黏附分子，通过同型相互作用连接细胞。其功能在细胞极性和分化的诱导与维持中至关重要，其下调缺失与结肠癌及其他肿瘤的侵袭性和低分化表型相关。我们采用抗生物素蛋白-生物素免疫过氧化物酶技术，在36例胰腺腺癌患者经微波处理的石蜡包埋切片中定位E-钙黏蛋白。正常导管和腺泡细胞表达E-钙黏蛋白，在细胞间连接处有典型的膜染色。与相邻正常导管细胞相比，36例肿瘤中有19例（53%）出现正常表面E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失。低分化（III级）肿瘤（6/7，86%）中异常E-钙黏蛋白表达的发生率高于高分化肿瘤（I级）（4/14，28%）（P = 0.012）。与11例淋巴结阴性肿瘤（I期）中的3例（27%）相比，有淋巴结转移（III期）的原发性肿瘤（14/23，61%）和远处转移（IV期）的原发性肿瘤（2/2，100%）中膜性E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失更为常见（P = 0.043）。总之，我们的数据表明，膜性E-钙黏蛋白表达缺失与胰腺癌的高分级和晚期相关。
