Toyoyama H, Nuruki K, Ogawa H, Yanagi M, Matsumoto H, Nishijima H, Shimotakahara T, Aikou T, Ozawa M
Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan.
Oncol Rep. 1999 Jan-Feb;6(1):81-5. doi: 10.3892/or.6.1.81.
Cadherins are Ca2+-dependent cell-cell adhesion molecules, and are involved in the formation and maintenance of the histo-architecture. Using a combination of biochemical and immunohistochemical methods, we analyzed the expression of cadherin-catenin complexes in 37 non-small cell lung carcinomas. In 19 cases, decreased expression of E-cadherin protein was observed. In 12 of them, decreased expression of alpha-catenin protein was also observed. Thus, decreased expression of alpha-catenin was apparently preceded by decreased expression of E-cadherin. In no cases was decreased expression of beta-catenin observed. In the 12 cases in which mRNA expression was analyzed by Northern blot analysis, decreased expression of mRNAs for E-cadherin and alpha-catenin was observed in 11 and 9 cases, respectively. In cases with reduced E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expression, immunohistochemistry revealed two types of staining pattern for the proteins. In the first type, almost all the cells in a tumor were stained weakly (homogeneous pattern). In the second type, different percentages of cells were stained strongly, the rest being almost negative for the staining (heterogeneous pattern).
钙黏蛋白是依赖钙离子的细胞间黏附分子，参与组织结构的形成与维持。我们运用生化和免疫组化方法相结合，分析了37例非小细胞肺癌中钙黏蛋白-连环蛋白复合物的表达情况。在19例病例中，观察到E-钙黏蛋白蛋白表达降低。其中12例还观察到α-连环蛋白蛋白表达降低。因此，α-连环蛋白表达降低显然先于E-钙黏蛋白表达降低。未观察到β-连环蛋白表达降低的病例。在通过Northern印迹分析对mRNA表达进行分析的12例病例中，分别在11例和9例中观察到E-钙黏蛋白和α-连环蛋白的mRNA表达降低。在E-钙黏蛋白和α-连环蛋白表达降低的病例中，免疫组化显示出两种蛋白染色模式。第一种类型中，肿瘤内几乎所有细胞染色均较弱（均匀模式）。第二种类型中，不同比例的细胞染色较强，其余细胞染色几乎为阴性（异质模式）。
