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P120‐catenin expression in human colorectal cancer
Author(s) -
Skoudy Anouchka,
Gomez Silvia,
Fabre Myriam,
Garcia de Herreros Antonio
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
international journal of cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.475
H-Index - 234
eISSN - 1097-0215
pISSN - 0020-7136
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0215(19960927)68:1<14::aid-ijc3>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - colorectal cancer , catenin , cancer research , oncology , cancer , medicine , expression (computer science) , biology , wnt signaling pathway , genetics , computer science , gene , programming language
Recent data suggest that pl20‐catenin plays a role in the regulation of functionality of E‐cadherin, a protein essential for the establishment and maintenance of cell‐cell contacts. Since dysfunction of intercellular adhesiveness is an alteration frequently observed in colon cancer we have studied the expression and distribution of p120‐catenin in human colorectal tumors. In normal colon, p120‐catenin was observed in the crypt and surface epithelium; the cells showed reactivity both in the membrane and in the cytosol. Thirteen primary tumors were examined for p120‐catenin expression: they were graded as uniformly positives (+) (4); heterogeneous (±) (6), with a diminished expression, detected mainly in the cytosol; and negatives (−) (3). Although the number of tumors was low, the reduction in p120‐catenin correlated with a larger size of the tumors ( p = 0.038). Association of p120‐catenin to the cytoskeleton was also determined in 5 tumors by detergent extraction and Western blot; this analysis shows that lack of reactivity in the membrane was accompanied by absence of p120‐catenin in the cytoskeleton‐associated fraction. Analysis of E‐cadherin was performed in order to compare the distribution of this protein and p120‐catenin. Although no complete correlation was found between the expression of both proteins ( p = 0.077), our results showed that alterations in the level or distribution of p120‐catenin were accompanied by lack of E‐cadherin reactivity in the membrane, whereas absence of p120‐catenin in the cytoskeleton fraction was associated with important decreases in the amount of E‐cadherin in this same fraction. These results show that alterations in p120‐catenin levels are a common event in colorectal tumors, and suggest that the distribution of this protein and E‐cadherin is coordinately regulated. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.