Expression of E-cadherin and catenins on testis tumor

E-cadherin (ECD) is a hemophilic Ca2+-dependent adhesion molecule associate d with cell-to-cell interactions and normal growth. Recent reports have sug gested that decrease or loss of ECD facilitates tumor progression and/or me tastasis. ECD functions in a complex called an adherens junction, which inc ludes several other proteins including alpha- and beta -catenin. in the pre sent study, fresh-frozen sections from 32 testis cancers, 16 seminomas and 16 non-seminomatous germ cell tumors (NSGCT), were examined immunohistochem ically. E-cadherin was not expressed on normal germ cells, but expressed on 3 (18.8%) of 16 seminomas and 10 (62.5%) of 16 NSGCTs, mainly on the epith elial component of teratoma cells. alpha -Catenin was detected on 0 (0%) of 13 seminomas and 4 (25%) of 16 NSGCTs. beta -Catenin was detected on 10 (7 1.4%) of 14 seminomas and 13 (81.2%) of 16 NSGCTs. ECD was detected signifi cantly more frequently on NSGCTs than on seminomas, Immunoblot analysis con firmed the expression of ECD and beta -catenin in NSGCTs, Expression of ECD and catenins may reflect the degree of differentiation and provide some in formation on the character of the tumor. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG. B asel.