Effect of radiation on the expression of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin and invasive capacity in human lung cancer cell line in vitro.

PURPOSE

To investigate the effect of radiation on E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expression in a human lung cancer cell line, and also evaluate invasive capacity in the membrane invasion culture system using the Boyden Chamber.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The immunoblot and immunofluorescence analyses were performed using the human lung cancer cell line A549 to examine altered expression of E-cadherin and alpha-catenin after irradiation. We also compared invasive capacity of untreated cells with that of irradiated cells.

RESULTS

Immunoblot analysis revealed that the expression of E-cadherin increased after irradiation. In a time-course analysis, the expression was increased 6 h after irradiation with 10 Gy and reached its peak level at 24 h, being 2.3 times the control value, whereas expression at 1 and 3 h after irradiation was almost equivalent to that of the control. A slight increase in expression was observed after irradiation of 2 Gy and the expression reached peak levels after 5 Gy. After fractionated irradiation, the increase in expression of both E-cadherin and alpha-catenin was observed, and the alteration of alpha-catenin was more prominent than that after a single irradiation of the same total dose. In the immunofluorescence study for E-cadherin antibody analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy, increased intensity in irradiated cells produced as a nondisrupted and continuous line at cell-cell contact sites. In an invasive assay, the number of migrated cells in irradiated cells after a dose of 5 and 10 Gy was reduced significantly compared to untreated cells.

CONCLUSION

The results indicate that irradiation of A549 increased the expression of E-cadherin, possibly preserving their functional property.