E-cadherin, β-catenin adhesion complex and relation to matrilysin expression in pT3 rectosigmoid cancers

Abstract

E-cadherin/ β-catenin complex has a critical role in cell–cell adhesion. β-Catenin is a critical component of the highly conserved Wnt signaling pathway that regulates cell proliferation and differentiation. Wnt signaling leads to the stabilization of cytosolic β-catenin and to translocation to the nucleus, where it binds with T-cell factor and promotes the transcription and changes in target gene expression, including matrix metalloproteinases. In this study, we analyzed paraffin-embedded specimens from 42 patients with pT3 rectosigmoid cancer for E-cadherin, β-catenin, and matrix metalloproteinase-7(MMP-7, matrilysin) expression using immunohistochemistry. Seventy-four and 79% of tumors expressed β-catenin and E-cadherin, respectively. Nuclear expression of β-catenin was detected only in 26.1% of tumors. Forty-five percent of the rectosigmoid cancers showed strong expression of MMP-7. It was revealed that membranous or cytoplasmic β-catenin expression was significantly related to E-cadherin and MMP-7 expression. No significant association was seen between E-cadherin, β-catenin, or MMP-7 expression and some clinicopathologic features. Our results may contribute to the functional interaction between β-catenin and MMP-7. Further studies on Wnt/ β-catenin and MMP-7 gene activity and protein expression are necessary to better understand the pathogenesis of colorectal carcinoma.