Hashizume R, Koizumi H, Ihara A, Ohta T, Uchikoshi T
Second Department of Pathology, St. Marianna University School of Medicine, Kawasaki, Japan.
Histopathology. 1996 Aug;29(2):139-46. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2559.1996.d01-499.x.
Expression of beta-catenin was investigated in normal breast tissue and 66 breast carcinomas in conjunction with expression of epithelial cadherin (E-CD) and alpha-catenin. In normal mammary ducts and acini, intense beta-catenin immunoreactivity was present at the basolateral surfaces of luminal epithelium and weak immunoreactivity was observed at the lateral borders of myoepithelial cells. No beta-catenin was revealed at the myoepithelial basal surface. The intercellular expression of beta-catenin, as well as of E-CD and alpha-catenin, was also observed in carcinoma tissues with varying staining intensity. Almost all of 10 intraductal carcinomas and approximately 70% of 41 invasive ductal carcinomas expressed the three molecules at the same level as in normal glands, whereas approximately 80% of 13 invasive lobular carcinomas showed severe deficiency of them. Two lobular carcinomas in situ showed complete absence of all of the proteins. Some of these findings were confirmed biochemically by immunoblotting analysis. In invasive ductal carcinomas, alpha-catenin was reduced more frequently in diffuse than in solid type tumours, whereas the level of expression of beta-catenin and E-CD was unchanged between them. No correlation was present between reduced expression of the adhesion molecules and lymph node metastasis.
结合上皮钙黏蛋白（E-CD）和α-连环蛋白的表达情况，对66例乳腺癌组织及正常乳腺组织中β-连环蛋白的表达进行了研究。在正常乳腺导管和腺泡中，管腔上皮细胞的基底外侧表面存在强烈的β-连环蛋白免疫反应性，而肌上皮细胞的外侧边界则观察到弱免疫反应性。在肌上皮基底表面未发现β-连环蛋白。在癌组织中也观察到β-连环蛋白以及E-CD和α-连环蛋白的细胞间表达，其染色强度各不相同。10例导管内癌中几乎所有病例以及41例浸润性导管癌中的约70%，这三种分子的表达水平与正常腺体相同，而13例浸润性小叶癌中的约80%显示出严重缺乏这些分子。2例小叶原位癌显示所有这些蛋白完全缺失。其中一些发现通过免疫印迹分析得到了生化证实。在浸润性导管癌中，α-连环蛋白在弥漫型肿瘤中比实体型肿瘤中更频繁地减少，而β-连环蛋白和E-CD的表达水平在两者之间没有变化。黏附分子表达降低与淋巴结转移之间不存在相关性。
