Abstract
Expression of the Ca2+-dependent, homotypic celhcell adhesion molecule, E-cadherin (E-cad), suppresses tumor cell invasion and metastasis in experimental tumor models. Decreased E-cad expression is common in poorly differentiated, advanced-stage carcinomas. These data implicate E-cad as an “invasion suppressor” gene. The mechanism by which E-cad is silenced in advanced stage carcinomas is unclear. In this report, we show that: (a) the 5’ CpG island of E-cad is densely methylated in E-corf-negative breast and prostate carcinoma cell lines and primary breast carcinoma tissue but is unmethylated in normal breast tissue; (b) treatment with the demethylating agent, 5-aza-2’-deoxycytidine, partially restores E-cad RNA and protein levels in E-cad-negative breast and prostate carcinoma cell lines; and (c) an E-cad promoter/CAT construct is expressed in both E-cad-positive and -negative breast and prostate carcinoma cell lines, indicating that these cells have the active transcriptional machinery necessary for E-cad gene expression. Our data demonstrate that frequent loss of E-cad expression in human breast and prostate carcinomas results from hypermethylation of the E-cad promoter region.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 5195-5199 |
Number of pages | 5 |
Journal | Cancer Research |
Volume | 55 |
Issue number | 22 |
State | Published - Nov 15 1995 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Oncology
- Cancer Research