Cell
Volume 66, Issue 1, 12 July 1991, Pages 107-119
Journal home page for Cell

Article
Genetic manipulation of E-cadherin expression by epithelial tumor cells reveals an invasion suppressor role

https://doi.org/10.1016/0092-8674(91)90143-MGet rights and content

Abstract

A cDNA encoding the cell-cell adhesion molecule E-cadherin was transfected into highly invasive epithelial tumor cell lines of dog kidney or mouse mammary gland origin. Transfectants with a homogeneously high expression of E-cadherin showed a reproducible loss of activity in two types of in vitro invasion assays. Invasiveness of these transfectants could be reinduced specifically by treatment with anti—E-cadherin antibodies. In vivo, they formed partly differentiated tumors, instead of fully undifferentiated tumors. Alternatively, a plasmid encoding E-cadherin-specific antisense RNA was introduced into noninvasive ras-transformed cells with high endogenous E-cadherin expression. The resulting down-regulation, albeit partial, rendered the cells Invasive. These data provide direct evidence that E-cadherin acts as an invasion suppressor molecule.

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