Imazeki F, Yokosuka O, Yamaguchi T, Ohto M, Isono K, Omata M
First Department of Medicine, Chiba University School of Medicine, Japan.
Gastroenterology. 1996 Feb;110(2):362-8. doi: 10.1053/gast.1996.v110.pm8566581.
BACKGROUND & AIMS: Recent studies have shown that some variant forms of CD44, a transmembrane glycoprotein expressed on various cell surfaces, might be involved in tumor progression or tumor metastasis. The aim of this study was to analyze the expression of CD44-messenger RNA (mRNA) in colorectal cancer and colorectal adenoma to further elucidate the role of CD44 in colorectal tumorigenesis.
The expression of CD44-mRNA was examined in 90 specimens from 44 patients with colorectal cancer or colorectal adenomatous polyps and in the peripheral blood leukocytes from 7 healthy volunteers by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction and Southern blot hybridization.
Strong expression of the epithelial form and variant forms containing exons 11 or 12 of the CD44 gene, which conferred metastatic behavior to rat cells, was detected in primary and metastatic tumor tissues, whereas it was very weak or not detectable in normal colonic mucosae, normal liver tissue, or peripheral blood leukocytes. However, adenomatous colorectal polyps also showed as strong an expression of epithelial and variant forms of CD44 as primary and metastatic tumor tissues.
These results suggest that variant forms of CD44-mRNA might be expressed in an early stage of colorectal carcinogenesis.
近期研究表明，CD44（一种在多种细胞表面表达的跨膜糖蛋白）的某些变异形式可能参与肿瘤进展或转移。本研究旨在分析CD44信使核糖核酸（mRNA）在结直肠癌和结直肠腺瘤中的表达，以进一步阐明CD44在结直肠癌发生中的作用。
采用逆转录 - 聚合酶链反应和Southern印迹杂交技术，检测44例结直肠癌或结直肠腺瘤性息肉患者的90份标本以及7名健康志愿者外周血白细胞中CD44 - mRNA的表达。
在原发性和转移性肿瘤组织中检测到CD44基因上皮形式以及包含外显子11或12的变异形式的强表达，这些变异形式赋予大鼠细胞转移行为，而在正常结肠黏膜、正常肝组织或外周血白细胞中表达非常弱或未检测到。然而，结直肠腺瘤性息肉中CD44上皮形式和变异形式的表达也与原发性和转移性肿瘤组织一样强。
这些结果表明，CD44 - mRNA变异形式可能在结直肠癌发生的早期阶段就已表达。
