Aberrant Expression of E-Cadherin and Integrin β-1 in Trophoblasts Is Associated With Malignant Gestational Trophoblastic Diseases

Abstract

Aberrant expression of E-cadherin and integrin β-1 is closely related to malignant transformation and hydatidiform mole development. Changes in the expression of E-cadherin and integrin β-1 are informative and may improve the early diagnosis of malignant/invasive moles.

E-Cadherin, CD44v6, and Insulin-Like Growth Factor-II mRNA-Binding Protein 3 Expressions in Different Stages of Hydatidiform Moles

“…Low expression of E‐cadherin is correlated with tumor invasion and progression . Although high E‐cadherin expression was observed in normal placental cytotrophoblasts, its expression significantly decreased from normal placenta to malignant iHMs . Surprisingly, high E‐cadherin expression in normal placenta and different stages of HMs was observed in this study, which is contradictory to most previous studies .…”

“…A previous study reported that E-cadherin expression in trophoblastic villus was gradually decreased from normal placenta to malignant HMs [13]. In this study, we observed that E-cadherin expression was positive in cytotrophoblasts and extravillous trophoblast of normal placenta ( Figure 1A), and a similar expression pattern was found in pHMs and cHMs ( Figures 1B and 1C).…”

“…Although high E-cadherin expression was observed in normal placental cytotrophoblasts, its expression significantly decreased from normal placenta to malignant iHMs [13,14]. Surprisingly, high E-cadherin expression in normal placenta and different stages of HMs was observed in this study, which is contradictory to most previous studies [13,14]. However, a study by Reynolds et al [19] also observed high E-cadherin expression in most cases (92%) of complete HMs, and demonstrated that E-cadherin expression in cHMs was not related to the risk of invasive disease.…”

“…E‐cadherin has been reported to be a tumor suppressor, and downregulation of E‐cadherin is highly associated with tumor invasion and progression . E‐cadherin is highly expressed in normal placental cytotrophoblasts, but is gradually decreased from normal placenta to malignant gestational trophoblastic neoplasms; in which, E‐cadherin is positive in 90% of normal trophoblastic villus during early pregnancy, in 80% of benign HMs and in 50% of iHMs . CD44 variant 6 (CD44v6) plays an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis by regulating tumor cell proliferation and migration .…”

The role of Zeb1 in the pathogenesis of morbidly adherent placenta

“…Previous studies have reported that the expression of EMT markers, including Zeb1, Zeb2, Twist family BHLH transcription factor and Snail family transcriptional repressor 1 in the outer cell layer of trophoblasts is increased at 22 days gestation (12). Therefore, it may be speculated that Zeb1 is involved in regulation of trophoblastic invasion (13). However, to the best of our knowledge, research into human chorionic villi is limited.…”