BEHAVIOUR OF BASEMENT MEMBRANE ANTIGENS IN GASTRIC AND COLORECTAL CANCER: Immunohistochemical Study

Abstract

Eighty gastric and colorectal lesions including cases of dysplasia and carcinoma were studied by immunohistochemical techniques to investigate the behaviour of laminin, type IV collagen and fibronectin. Their distribution was examined on frozen and formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded samples. In the same lesions, interruption, fragmentation and absence of basement membrane (BM) antigen‐staining were observed. Carcinomas with well differentiated glandular structures were always surrounded by a well defined BM as in normal, non‐pathological tissues. On the contrary, undifferentiated areas arranged in nests or sheets were usually negative for laminin and type IV collagen. Anomalous BM staining was strictly related to the degree of differentiation of tumor tissue, while no correlation existed between carcinoma staging and BM antigen presence, either in gastric or colorectal neoplasms. Immunostaining with antibody against type IV collagenase showed a massive positivity in the early gastric carcinomas examined, while in colorectal cancer only granulocytes showed it.

Different adhesion properties of highly and poorly metastatic HT-29 colon carcinoma cells with extracellular matrix components: role of integrin expression and cytoskeletal components

“…In colon carcinomas integrin expression differs depending on the metastatic potential of the tumour cell. Additionally, the quantitative expression of ECM components is organ-dependent (Nicolson, 1988b), and relationships between ECM interaction and differentiation state or behaviour of colon carcinoma cells have been described (Grigioni et al, 1986;Boyd et al, 1988;Danecker et al, 1989). In our study, the properties of poorly or highly metastatic colon carcinoma cell lines were analysed during adhesion to different ECM components.…”

“…In various organs ECM composition has been found to be different which could be important in tumour cell-ECM adhesion (Nicolson, 1995). Additionally, some tumours, such as colon carcinomas, produce their own ECM components, and these components can modify peritumoural ECM composition (Burtin et al, 1983;Grigioni et al, 1986). In some tumour systems the expression of ECM components by tumour cells, such as the expression of oncofetal fibronectin (FN) by colorectal carcinomas, correlates with poor prognosis (Inufusa et al, 1995).…”

Cholecystokinin receptor antagonist, loxiglumide, inhibits invasiveness of human pancreatic cancer cell lines

“…The expression of MMP-9, whose st bstrate is gelatin, has been reported in several human carcin~mas such as lung [1], breast [2] and several metastatic tumour models [3,4]. These observations suggest that MMP-9 may play an important role in tumour cell invasion [5][6][7].…”

Levels of serum fibronectin as a biomarker in gastric cancer patients: Correlation with clinical diagnosis and outcome

“…Fibronectin serves a prominent role in cell adhesion, growth, migration and differentiation, and it is important for processes, including wound healing and embryonic development via integrins and other cell surface receptors (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Altered expression of fibronectin, degradation and organization have been associated with a number of pathologies, including cancer (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”

“…Fibronectin serves a prominent role in cell adhesion, growth, migration and differentiation, and it is important for processes, including wound healing and embryonic development via integrins and other cell surface receptors (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Altered expression of fibronectin, degradation and organization have been associated with a number of pathologies, including cancer (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). Several of the morphological changes observed in tumor types and tumor-derived cell lines have been attributed to decreased expression of fibronectin, increased fibronectin degradation, and/or decreased expression of fibronectin-binding receptors, including α5β1 integrins (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8).…”