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Published in: European Journal of Medical Research 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research

The simultaneous expression of both ephrin B3 receptor and E-cadherin in Barrett`s adenocarcinoma is associated with favorable clinical staging

Authors: Matthias C Schauer, Nikolas H Stoecklein, Joerg Theisen, Feride Kröpil, Stephan Baldus, Arnulf Hoelscher, Markus Feith, Edwin Bölke, Christiane Matuschek, Wilfried Budach, Wolfram Trudo Knoefel

Published in: European Journal of Medical Research | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

In intestinal epithelium, tyrosine kinase receptor Ephrin B3 (Eph B3) maintains the architecture of the crypt-villus axis by repulsive interaction with its ligand ephrin-B1. While loss of Eph B3 is linked to colorectal cancer initiation, overexpression of Eph B3 in cancer cell lines inhibits growth and induces functional changes with decreased mesenchymal and increased epithelial markers. In order to study this tumor suppressor activity of Eph B3 in esophageal adenocarcinoma we analyzed the simultaneous expression of Eph B3 and E-cadherin in both the healthy esophagus and in Barrett’s carcinoma.

Methods

Simultaneous expression of Eph B3 and E-cadherin was investigated in samples from 141 patients with Barrett’s carcinoma and from 20 healthy esophagi using immunhistology and quantitative PCR. Results from healthy squamous epithelium, Barrett’s metaplasia and staging-specific esophageal adenocarcinoma were correlated.

Results

A significantly reduced E-cadherin mRNA expression could be detected in adenocarcinoma compared to dysplasia. The immunhistological activity of E-cadherin and Eph B3 was reduced in adenocarcinoma compared to dysplasia or healthy esophageal mucosa. The intracellular E-cadherin distribution changed significantly from the cytoplasm to the membrane, when the Eph receptor was simultaneously expressed. Simultaneous expression of E-cadherin and Eph B3 showed a significant inverse correlation to tumor stage.

Conclusions

We present novel evidence of the tumor suppressor activity of Eph B3 in esophageal adenocarcinoma possibly due to the impact on redistribution of cellular E-cadherin to the membrane. Our results suggest that this effect might play a role in the dysplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence, the infiltrative growth pattern and the development of lymph node metastases.
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Metadata
Title
The simultaneous expression of both ephrin B3 receptor and E-cadherin in Barrett`s adenocarcinoma is associated with favorable clinical staging
Authors
Matthias C Schauer
Nikolas H Stoecklein
Joerg Theisen
Feride Kröpil
Stephan Baldus
Arnulf Hoelscher
Markus Feith
Edwin Bölke
Christiane Matuschek
Wilfried Budach
Wolfram Trudo Knoefel
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
European Journal of Medical Research / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 2047-783X
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/2047-783X-17-10

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