Summary
Eighteen breast cancer cell lines were examined for expression of markers of epithelial and fibroblastic differentiation: E-cadherin, desmoplakins, ZO-1, vimentin, keratin and β1 and β4 integrins. The cell lines were distributed along a spectrum of differentiation from epithelial to fibroblastic phenotypes. The most well-differentiated, epithelioid cell lines contained proteins characteristic of desmosomal, adherens and tight junctions, were adherent to one another on plastic and in the basement membrane matrix Matrigel and were keratin-positive and vimentin-negative. These cell lines were all weakly invasive in anin vitro chemoinvasion assay. The most poorly-differentiated, fibroblastic cell lines were E-cadherin-, desmoplakin- and ZO-1-negative and formed branching structures in Matrigel. They were vimentin-positive, contained only low levels of keratins and were highly invasive in thein vitro chemoinvasion assay. Of all of the markers analyzed, vimentin expression correlated best within vitro invasive ability and fibroblastic differentiation. In a cell line with unstable expression of vimentin, T47DCO, the cells that were invasive were of the fibroblastic type. The differentiation markers described here may be useful for analysis of clinical specimens and could potentially provide a more precise measure of differentiation grade yielding more power for predicting prognosis.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bloom HJG, Richardson WW: Histological grading and prognosis in breast cancer. Br J Cancer 11: 359–377, 1957
Stenkvist B, Bengtsson E, Dahlqvist B, Eklund G, Eriksson O, Jarkrans T, Nordin B: Predicting breast cancer recurrence. Cancer 50: 2884–2893, 1982
Takeichi M: Cadherins: a molecular family important in selective cell-cell adhesion. Annu Rev Biochem 59: 237–252, 1990
Oka H, Shiozaki H, Kobayashi K, Inoue M, Tahara H, Kobayashi T, Takatsuka Y, Matsuyoshi N, Hirano S, Takeichi M, Mori T: Expression of E-cadherin cell adhesion molecules in human breast cancer tissues and its relationship to metastasis. Cancer Res 53: 1696–1701, 1993
Gamallo C, Palacios J, Suarez A, Pizarro A, Navarro P, Quintanilla M, Cano A: Correlation of E-cadherin expression with differentiation grade and histological type in breast carcinoma. Am J Pathol 142: 987–993, 1993
Rasbridge SA, Gillett CE, Sampson SA, Walsh FS, Millis RR: Epithelial (E-) and placental (P-) cadherin cell adhesion molecule expression in breast carcinoma. J Pathol 169: 245–250, 1993
Pignatelli M, Cardillo MR, Hanby A, Stamp GWH: Integrins and their accessory adhesion molecules in mammary carcinomas: loss of polarization in poorly differentiated tumors. Hum Pathol 23: 1159–1166, 1992
Zutter MM, Mazoujian G, Santoro SA: Decreased expression of integrin adhesive protein receptors in adenocarcinoma of the breast. Am J Pathol 137: 863–870, 1990
Jones JL, Critchley DR, Walker RA: Alteration of stromal protein and integrin expression in breast-a marker of premalignant change? J Pathol 167: 399–406, 1992
Pignatelli M, Hanby AM, Stamp GWH: Low expression of beta-1, alpha-2 and alpha-3 subunits of VLA integrins in malignant mammary tumours. J Pathol 165: 25–32, 1991
Koukoulis GK, Virtanen I, Korhonen M, Laitinen L, Quaranta V, Gould VE: Immunohistochemical localization of integrins in the normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic breast. Am J Pathol 4: 787–799, 1991
Mayer B, Johnson JP, Leitl F, Jauch KW, Heiss MM, Schildberg FW, Birchmeier W, Funke I: E-cadherin expression in primary and metastatic gastric cancer: down-regulation correlates with cellular dedifferentiation and glandular disintegration. Cancer Res 53: 1690–1695, 1993
Schipper JH, Frixen UH, Behrens J, Unger A, Jahnke K, Birchmeier W: E-cadherin expression in squamous cell carcinomas of head and neck: inverse correlation with tumor dedifferentiation and lymph node metastasis. Cancer Res 51: 6328–6337, 1991
Umbas R, Schalken JA, Aalders TW, Carter BS, Karthaus HF, Schaafsma HE, Debruyne FM, Isaacs WB: Expression of the cellular adhesion molecule E-cadherin is reduced or absent in high-grade prostate cancer. Cancer Res 52: 5104–5109, 1992
Dorudi S, Sheffield JP, Poulsom R, Northover JM, Hart IR: E-cadherin expression in colorectal cancer. An immunocytochemical andin situ hybridization study. Am J Pathol 142: 981–986, 1993
Bringuier PP, Umbas R, Schaafsma HE, Karthaus HFM, Debruyne FMJ, Schalken JA: Decreased E-cadherin immunoreactivity correlates with poor survival in patients with bladder tumors. Cancer Res 53: 3241–3245, 1993
Harada T, Shinohara M, Nakamura S, Shimada M, Oka M: Immunohistochemical detection of desmosomes in oral squamous cell carcinomas: correlation with dedifferentiation, mode of invasion, and metastatic potential. Int J Oral Maxillofac Surg 21: 346–349, 1992
Lee SW, Tomasetto C, Paul D, Keyomarsi K, Sager R: Transcriptional downregulation of gap-junction proteins blocks junctional communication in human mammary tumor cell lines. J Cell Biol 118: 1213–1221, 1992
Bernal SD, Stahel RA: Cytoskeleton-associated proteins: their role as cellular integrators in the neoplastic process. CRC Crit Rev Oncol Hematol 3: 191–204, 1985
Sommers CL, Walker-Jones D, Heckford SE, Worland P, Valverius E, Clark R, McCormick F, Stampfer M, Abularach S, Gelmann EP: Vimentin rather than keratin expression in some hormone-independent breast cancer cell lines and in oncogene-transformed mammary epithelial cells. Cancer Res 49: 4258–4263, 1989
Thompson EW, Paik S, Brunner N, Sommers CL, Zugmaier G, Clarke R, Shima TB, Torri J, Donohue S, Lippman ME, Martin GR, Dickson RB: Association of increased basement membrane-invasiveness with absence of estrogen receptor and expression of vimentin in human breast cancer cell lines. J Cell Physiol 150: 534–544, 1992
Heatley M, Whiteside C, Maxwell P, Toner P: Vimentin expression in benign and malignant breast epithelium. J Clin Pathol 46: 441–445, 1993
Domagala W, Lasota J, Bartowiak J, Weber K, Osborn M: Vimentin is preferentially expressed in human breast carcinomas with low estrogen receptor and high Ki-67 growth fraction. Am J Pathol 136: 219–227, 1990
Domagala W, Leszek W, Lasota J, Weber K, Osborn M: Vimentin is preferentially expressed in high-grade ductal and medullary, but not in lobular breast carcinomas. Am J Pathol 137: 1059–1064, 1990
Raymond WA, Leong AS-Y: Vimentin - A new prognostic parameter in breast carcinoma? J Pathol 158: 107–114, 1989
Cattoretti G, Andreola S, Clemente C, D'Amato L, Rilke F: Vimentin and p53 expression on epidermal growth factor receptor-positive, oestrogen receptor-negative breast carcinomas. Br J Cancer 57: 353–357, 1988
Gould VE, Kouloulis GK, Jansson DS, Nagle RB, Franke WW, Moll R: Coexpression patterns of vimentin and glial filament protein with cytokeratins in the normal, hyperplastic, and neoplastic breast. Am J Pathol 137: 1143–1155, 1990
Wada T, Yasutomi M, Hashmura K, Kunikata M, Tanaka T, Mori M: Vimentin expression in benign and malignant lesions in the human mammary gland. Anticancer Res 122: 1973–1982, 1992
Azumi N, Battifora H: The distribution of vimentin and keratin in epithelial and nonepithelial neoplasms. Am J Clin Pathol 188: 286–296, 1987
Sommers CL, Thompson EW, Torri JA, Kemler R, Gelmann EP, Byers SW: Cell adhesion molecule uvomorulin expression in human breast cancer cell lines: relationship to morphology and invasive capacities. Cell Growth and Diff 2: 365–372, 1991
Van Waes C, Kozarsky KF, Warren AB, Kidd L, Paugh D, Liebert M, Carey TE: The A9 antigen associated with aggressive human squamous carcinoma is structurally and functionally similar to the newly defined integrin alpha 6 beta 4. Cancer Res 51: 2395–2402, 1991
Tait L, Soule HD, Russo J: Ultrastructural and immunocytochemical characterization of an immortalized human breast epithelial cell line, MCF-10. Cancer Res 50: 6087–6094, 1990
Graham ML, Krett NL, Miller LA, Leslie KK, Gordon DF, Wood WM, Wei LL, Horwitz KB: T47Dco cells, genetically unstable and containing estrogen receptor mutations, are a model for the progression of breast cancers to hormone resistance. Cancer Res 50: 6208–6217, 1990
Sommers CL, Heckford SE, Skerker JM, Worland P, Torri J, Thompson EW, Byers SW, Gelmann EP: Loss of epithelial markers and acquisition of vimentin expression in adriamycin-and vinblastine-resistant human breast cancer cell lines. Cancer Research 52: 5190–5197, 1992
Behrens J, Mareel MM, Van Roy FM, Birchmeier W: Dissecting tumor cell invasion: epithelial cells acquire invasive properties after the loss of uvomorulin-mediated cell-cell adhesion. J Cell Biol 108: 2435–2447, 1989
Frixen UH, Behrens J, Sachs M, Eberle G, Voss B, Warda A, Lochner D, Birchmeier W: E-cadherin-mediated cell-cell adhesion prevents invasiveness of human carcinoma cells. J Cell Biol 113: 173–185, 1991
Chen WC, Obrink B: Cell-cell contacts mediated by E-cadherin (uvomorulin) restrict invasive behavior of L-cells. J Cell Biol 114: 319–327, 1991
Vleminckx K, Vakaet L, Mareel M, Fiers W, Van Roy F: Genetic manipulation of E-cadherin expression by epithelial tumor cells reveals an invasion suppressor role. Cell 66: 107–119, 1991
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sommers, C.L., Byers, S.W., Thompson, E.W. et al. Differentiation state and invasiveness of human breast cancer cell lines. Breast Cancer Res Tr 31, 325–335 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00666165
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00666165