Cadherin-11 is highly expressed in rhabdomyosarcomas and during differentiation of myoblasts in vitro

Rhabdomyosarcomas bear a morphological and genetic resemblance to developin g skeletal muscle. Apart from myogenic marker genes (bHLH factors, myosin, actin), cell adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin and N-CAM have been repo rted to be expressed both in rhabdomyosarcomas and during myogenesis, The p resent study demonstrates the expression of another cadherin, cadherin-ll, in rhabdomyosarcomas and during differentiation of myoblasts in vitro: cadh erin-ll, a predominantly mesenchymal cell adhesion molecule, is highly expr essed in embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas and alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas, which do not bear the Pax-3-FKHR fusion previously described. Cadherin-ll is down -regulated in normal skeletal muscle and after myotube formation in vitro. The results of this study suggest that cadherin-ll might be involved in myo genesis and that rhabdomyosarcomas may re-express or fail to down-regulate cadherin-ll, Since alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas bearing the t(2;13) transloca tion do not express cadherin-ll, it is postulated that Pax-3 and cadherin-l l might be linked and involved in the same myogenic pathway, Copyright (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.