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Beta‐ and gamma‐catenin expression in thyroid carcinomas
Author(s) -
Cerrato Aniello,
Fulciniti Francesco,
Avallone Antonio,
Benincasa Giulio,
Palombini Lucio,
Grieco Michele
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-9896(199807)185:3<267::aid-path113>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - beta (programming language) , cancer research , beta catenin , thyroid carcinoma , thyroid , pathology , medicine , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , wnt signaling pathway , computer science , signal transduction , programming language
Cadherins are calcium‐dependent cell–cell adhesion molecules whose intracellular domain forms a complex with proteins required for their function, called catenins. Down‐regulation of cadherins has frequently been detected in many types of human carcinomas, being associated with tumour progression. The present study investigates the immunohistochemical expression of E‐cadherin and beta‐ and gamma‐catenin in 27 human thyroid carcinomas. E‐cadherin immunoreactivity was found to be decreased at cell–cell contacts in 8/15 (53 per cent) papillary, 5/7 (71 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. Beta‐catenin membrane localization was found to be decreased in 6/15 (40 per cent) papillary, 2/7 (28 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. Gamma‐catenin expression was partially or totally lost in 13/15 (86 per cent) papillary, 6/7 (85 per cent) follicular, and 5/5 (100 per cent) anaplastic carcinomas. A normal pattern of expression for these three molecules was observed in areas of normal tissue in each sample. These data indicate that in addition to E‐cadherin, catenins are also down‐regulated at cell–cell junctions in thyroid tumours and could represent potentially useful differentiation and/or transformation markers. The high frequency of alterations of gamma‐catenin expression found in thyroid carcinomas suggests an important role for this gene product in thyroid carcinogenesis. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.