EXPRESSION OF E-CADHERIN AND ALPHA-CATENIN MOLECULES IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER TISSUES AND ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES

  • Authors:
    • T TAKAYAMA
    • H SHIOZAKI
    • M INOUE
    • S TAMURA
    • H OKA
    • T KADOWAKI
    • Y TAKATSUKA
    • A NAGAFUCHI
    • S TSUKITA
    • T MORI
  • View Affiliations

  • Published online on: October 1, 1994     https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.5.4.775
  • Pages: 775-780
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Abstract

E-cadherin is a transmembrane glycoprotein that is regulated by its associated proteins, including alpha-catenin. To understand intercellular adhesion of cancerous tissues more precisely, we investigated E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expression in 87 human breast cancers immunohistochemically. All of the normal mammary glands consistently showed strong alpha-catenin expression on cell-cell boundaries. In contrast, various expression patterns were observed in cancerous tissues; 22 (25%) evaluated as uniformly positive, 32 (37%) as heterogeneous and 33 (38%) as uniformly negative. We found significant correlations between reduction in alpha-catenin expression and clinicopathological features, especially tumor invasion and metastasis. Furthermore, a significant correlation was found between E-cadherin and alpha-catenin expressions. These results suggest that E-cadherin mediated adhesion system may be affected by reduction in alpha-catenin expression and that alpha-catenin may play an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis.

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October 1994
Volume 5 Issue 4

Print ISSN: 1019-6439
Online ISSN:1791-2423

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Spandidos Publications style
TAKAYAMA T, SHIOZAKI H, INOUE M, TAMURA S, OKA H, KADOWAKI T, TAKATSUKA Y, NAGAFUCHI A, TSUKITA S, MORI T, MORI T, et al: EXPRESSION OF E-CADHERIN AND ALPHA-CATENIN MOLECULES IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER TISSUES AND ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES. Int J Oncol 5: 775-780, 1994
APA
TAKAYAMA, T., SHIOZAKI, H., INOUE, M., TAMURA, S., OKA, H., KADOWAKI, T. ... MORI, T. (1994). EXPRESSION OF E-CADHERIN AND ALPHA-CATENIN MOLECULES IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER TISSUES AND ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES. International Journal of Oncology, 5, 775-780. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.5.4.775
MLA
TAKAYAMA, T., SHIOZAKI, H., INOUE, M., TAMURA, S., OKA, H., KADOWAKI, T., TAKATSUKA, Y., NAGAFUCHI, A., TSUKITA, S., MORI, T."EXPRESSION OF E-CADHERIN AND ALPHA-CATENIN MOLECULES IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER TISSUES AND ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES". International Journal of Oncology 5.4 (1994): 775-780.
Chicago
TAKAYAMA, T., SHIOZAKI, H., INOUE, M., TAMURA, S., OKA, H., KADOWAKI, T., TAKATSUKA, Y., NAGAFUCHI, A., TSUKITA, S., MORI, T."EXPRESSION OF E-CADHERIN AND ALPHA-CATENIN MOLECULES IN HUMAN BREAST-CANCER TISSUES AND ASSOCIATION WITH CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES". International Journal of Oncology 5, no. 4 (1994): 775-780. https://doi.org/10.3892/ijo.5.4.775