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Relationship between the Expression of E-, N-cadherins and beta-catenin and Tumor Grade in Astrocytomas

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Abstract

Cadherins are cell-surface glycoproteins that mediate Ca2+-dependent, homophilic cell–cell adhesion. The classical cadherins, E- and N-cadherins, connect to beta-catenin, the lining protein. There appears to be a relationship between their dysfunction and tumor invasion and metastasis. The aim of our study was to examine the possibility of a relationship between alterations in the E- and N-cadherin and catenin expression and malignancy in astrocytomas. Forty-five astrocytomas (18 glioblastomas, 16 anaplastic astrocytomas, and 11 diffuse astrocytomas) were collected and stained immunohistochemically for cadherins and beta-catenin. None of the astrocytomas were immunoreactive for E-cadherin. N-cadherin and beta-catenin were present at cell–cell borders in 61% of glioblastomas and 31% of anaplastic astrocytomas. The incidence of immunoreactivity for N-cadherin and beta-catenin increased significantly with the histological grade of astrocytomas (p=0.001, by Kruskal–Wallis test). Moreover, in anaplastic astrocytomas and glioblastomas, the Ki-67 labeling indices in both N-cadherin-positive and beta-catenin-positive cases were higher than that in negative cases (p=0.05 and 0.03, respectively, by Fisher's exact test). These results suggest that the expression of N-cadherin or beta-catenin may be related to the biological behavior of astrocytomas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Kitasato University School of Medicine, Kanagawa, Japan

    Satoshi Utsuki, Hidehiro Oka, Sachio Suzuki & Kiyotaka Fujii

  2. Department of Molecular Diagnostics, Kitasato University School of Allied Health Sciences, Kanagawa, Japan

    Yuichi Sato & Benio Tsuchiya

Authors
  1. Satoshi Utsuki
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  2. Yuichi Sato
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  3. Hidehiro Oka
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  4. Benio Tsuchiya
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  5. Sachio Suzuki
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  6. Kiyotaka Fujii
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Utsuki, S., Sato, Y., Oka, H. et al. Relationship between the Expression of E-, N-cadherins and beta-catenin and Tumor Grade in Astrocytomas. J Neurooncol 57, 187–192 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1015720220602

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