Deleted In Colorectal Cancer Expression Research Articles

Expression of the Netrin-1 receptor, deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC), is largely confined to projecting neurons in the developing forebrain

Axon guidance mechanisms are crucial to the development of an integrated nervous system. One family of molecules that may be important in establishing axonal connectivity in mammals is the Netrins, and their putative receptors DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), Neogenin, and Unc-5. Knockout and mutational analyses of some of these genes have shown that they are critically involved in the development of several specific pathways in the developing brain. However, previous expression analyses of these genes have largely been confined to the developing spinal cord. In the present study, we analyzed the expression of DCC in the developing mouse forebrain. We found that DCC protein is expressed in specific axonal populations projecting from the developing olfactory bulb, neocortex, hippocampus, and epithalamus/habenular complex. In the developing olfactory bulb and neocortex, DCC expression is particularly evident during the targeting phase of axon outgrowth and is then rapidly downregulated. As predicted from the knockout and mutational analyses of this gene, DCC is expressed in axonal commissures, in particular the corpus callosum, hippocampal commissure, and the anterior commissure. In addition, we found that DCC is expressed in the habenular commissure, the fasciculus retroflexus, and the stria medularis. Therefore, this analysis implicates a function for DCC in additional axonal guidance systems not predicted from the knockout and mutational analyses.

Expression of the deleted in colorectal cancer gene is related to prognosis in DNA diploid and low proliferative colorectal adenocarcinoma.

Whether or not the deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) gene is implicated in metastases or in predicting prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer has not previously been substantiated. Our aims were to investigate DCC expression in primary colorectal cancers and in metastases to identify any prognostic significance. DCC expression was examined immunohistochemically in 195 primary colorectal adenocarcinomas and in 23 paired primary tumors and lymph node metastases. DNA content and S-phase fraction were measured by flow cytometry. The absence of DCC expression was observed in 55 primary tumors (28%). DCC negativity was significantly related to poor prognosis in patients with DNA diploid tumors (P =.03) and those with a low S-phase fraction (< 5%, P =.02) but not in patients with nondiploid tumors or those with a higher S-phase fraction. Furthermore, DCC expression retained its prognostic significance in the diploid subgroup after adjusting for sex, age, site, stage, growth pattern, and differentiation (P =.01). DCC expression was similar in primary tumors and their metastases. The absence of DCC predicted a poor outcome in the patients with diploid tumors and those tumors with a low S-phase fraction. Immunohistochemistry may be considered as a practical test to assess prognosis in this subgroup of patients.

Floor Plate and Netrin-1 Are Involved in the Migration and Survival of Inferior Olivary Neurons

During their circumferential migration, the nuclei of inferior olivary neurons translocate within their axons until they reach the floor plate where they stop, although their axons have already crossed the midline to project to the contralateral cerebellum. Signals released by the floor plate, including netrin-1, have been implicated in promoting axonal growth and chemoattraction during axonal pathfinding in different midline crossing systems. In the present study, we report experiments that strongly suggest that the floor plate could also be involved in the migration of inferior olivary neurons. First, we show that the pattern of expression of netrin receptors DCC (for deleted in colorectal cancer), neogenin (a DCC-related protein), and members of the Unc5 family in wild-type mice is consistent with a possible role of netrins in directing the migration of precerebellar neurons from the rhombic lips. Second, we have studied mice deficient in netrin-1 production. In these mice, the number of inferior olivary neurons is remarkably decreased. Some of them are located ectopically along the migration stream, whereas the others are located medioventrally and form an atrophic inferior olivary complex: most subnuclei are missing. However, axons of the remaining olivary cell bodies located in the vicinity of the floor plate still succeed in entering their target, the cerebellum, but they establish an ipsilateral projection instead of the normal contralateral projection. In vitro experiments involving ablations of the midline show a fusion of the two olivary masses normally located on either side of the ventral midline, suggesting that the floor plate may function as a specific stop signal for inferior olivary neurons. These results establish a requirement for netrin-1 in the migration of inferior olivary neurons and suggest that it may function as a specific guidance cue for the initial steps of the migration from the rhombic lips and then later in the development of the normal crossed projection of the inferior olivary neurons. They also establish a requirement for netrin-1, either directly or indirectly, for the survival of inferior olivary neurons.

A Case of Adenocarcinoma of the Small Intestine in a Japanese Patient with Crohn Disease: A Report with Immunohistochemical and Oncogenic Analyses

We report a rare case of Crohn disease accompanied by a small-bowel carcinoma that developed in a 54-year-old Japanese man. The ulcerating tumor, which histologically proved to be a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma and dysplasia surrounding the carcinoma, was located in the diseased ileum. The Ki-67 immunoreactive epithelial cells were increased in regenerative mucosa as compared with values for normal mucosa. The Ki-67- and p53-positive cells were increased in dysplasia and carcinoma as compared with values for regenerative or normal mucosa. In contrast, the p21WAF1/CIP1 immunoreactive cells were decreased in this order. Intense DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) expression was constantly shown among normal, regenerative, dysplastic and cancerous tissues. No bcl-2 expression and c-Ki-ras mutations were apparent. In conclusion, enhanced epithelial cell proliferation, p53 overexpression, and decrease of p21WAF1/CIP1 expression may predispose the small-bowel mucosa to dysplasia and carcinoma development in Crohn disease.

Decreased DCC mRNA expression in human gastric cancers is clinicopathologically significant.

Loss of heterozygosity (LOH) or decreased expression of the deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) gene, a candidate tumor suppressor gene, has been suggested to correlate with progression in several types of tumors. In human gastric cancers, although DCC LOH has been reported to be frequent in expanding-type tumors, the relation of decreased DCC mRNA expression with clinicopathological features, including metastatic events, remains to be investigated in detail. Therefore, expression levels of DCC mRNA were examined in 52 advanced gastric cancers by the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction method combined with Southern blot analysis. Overall, decreased DCC mRNA expression was observed in 27 of the tumors (52%). According to Ming's [Cancer 39, 2475-2485 (1977)] classification, the expanding type showed a significantly higher incidence (71%) than the infiltrative type (17%) (p = 0.0002). Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated the presence of DCC expression in cancer but not non-cancerous cells in infiltrative-type lesions. An additional follow-up study of tumor recurrence in 42 patients undergoing curative resection implicated decreased DCC expression in metachronous liver metastasis. The results indicate that decreased DCC mRNA expression is closely associated not only with the expanding-type phenotype but also with liver metastasis of gastric cancers. Assessment of this parameter in primary lesions may thus find predictive application.

The DCC gene product induces apoptosis by a mechanism requiring receptor proteolysis.

The development of colonic carcinoma is associated with the mutation of a specific set of genes. One of these, DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), is a candidate tumour-suppressor gene, and encodes a receptor for netrin-1, a molecule involved in axon guidance. Loss of DCC expression in tumours is not restricted to colon carcinoma, and, although there is no increase in the frequency of tumour formation in DCC hemizygous mice, reestablishment of DCC expression suppresses tumorigenicity. However, the mechanism of action of DCC is unknown. Here we show that DCC induces apoptosis in the absence of ligand binding, but blocks apoptosis when engaged by netrin-1. Furthermore, DCC is a caspase substrate, and mutation of the site at which caspase-3 cleaves DCC suppresses the pro-apoptotic effect of DCC completely. These results indicate that DCC may function as a tumour-suppressor protein by inducing apoptosis in settings in which ligand is unavailable (for example, during metastasis or tumour growth beyond local blood supply) through functional caspase cascades by a mechanism that requires cleavage of DCC at Asp 1,290.

Identification and characterization of neogenin, a DCC-related gene.

DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), a candidate tumor suppressor gene located in chromosome band 18q21.2, encodes a transmembrane protein of 1447 amino acids. Neogenin, a protein with nearly 50% amino acid identity to DCC, was recently identified because of its dynamic expression in the developing nervous system and gastrointestinal tract of the chicken. To explore a role for the human neogenin (NGN) gene in cancer, we have isolated cDNAs for two alternatively spliced forms of NGN, encoding proteins of 1461 and 1408 amino acids. Fluorescence in situ hybridization studies (FISH) localized NGN in chromosome band 15q22, a region infrequently affected by alterations in cancer. NGN transcripts of about 7.5 and 5.5 kb were detected in all adult tissues studied. In contrast to the frequent loss of DCC expression, no alterations in NGN expression were observed in more than 50 cancers studied, including glioblastoma, medulloblastoma, neuroblastoma, colorectal, breast, cervical and pancreatic cancer cell lines and xenografts. Based on their sequence conservation and similar expression during development, DCC and NGN may have related functions. However, the chromosomal location and ubiquitous expression of NGN in various human tumors suggest it is infrequently altered in cancer.

The DCC protein -- neural development and the malignant process.

The deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) gene encodes a neural cell adhesion family molecule that was originally identified as a candidate tumor suppressor target of 18q allelic loss in colorectal cancer. However, the importance of the DCC protein has been most clearly demonstrated in neural development. Mutational and subsequent biochemical studies in C. elegans, Drosophila and vertebrates have shown that DCC functions in the guided migration of cells and cell processes in response to stimuli from netrins, a family of secreted laminin-like proteins. It appears that DCC may act in this signal transduction pathway as a netrin receptor or a component of the receptor complex, though a definitive receptor:ligand relationship has not yet been demonstrated. It is also clear that DCC can affect migrations in a netrin-independent manner, implying the existence of other DCC ligands. Though the loss of DCCexpression appears to be a later event in several malignancies and is associated with disease dissemination, it has not been adequately demonstrated that DCC is the tumor suppressor gene targeted by 18q allelic loss. However, DCC expression does have potential clinical utility as it stratifies an important group of colorectal cancer patients into good and poor prognosis subgroups.

The DCC protein and prognosis in colorectal cancer.

Allelic loss of chromosome 18q predicts a poor outcome in patients with stage II colorectal cancer. Although the specific gene inactivated by this allelic loss has not been elucidated, the DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) gene is a candidate. We investigated whether the expression of the DCC protein in tumor cells is a prognostic marker in colorectal carcinoma. The expression of DCC was evaluated immunohistochemically in 132 paraffin-embedded samples from patients with curatively resected stage II and III colorectal carcinomas. The Cox proportional-hazards model was used to adjust for covariates including age, sex, tumor site, degree of tumor differentiation, and use of adjuvant therapy. The expression of DCC was a strong positive predictive factor for survival in both stage II and stage III colorectal carcinomas. In patients with stage II disease whose tumors expressed DCC, the five-year survival rate was 94.3 percent, whereas in patients with DCC-negative tumors, the survival rate was 61.6 percent (P<0.001). In patients with stage III disease, the respective survival rates were 59.3 percent and 33.2 percent (P=0.03). DCC is a prognostic marker in patients with stage II or stage III colorectal cancer. In stage II colorectal carcinomas, the absence of DCC identifies a subgroup of patients with lesions that behave like stage III cancers. These findings may thus have therapeutic implications in this group of patients.

DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) inactivation in hematological malignancies.

DCC (Deleted in Colorectal Cancer) is a putative tumor suppressor gene located on chromosome band 18q21. Allelic deletions of one DCC locus have been found in more than 70% of colorectal carcinomas. Loss of DCC expression has been detected in 80% of all colorectal cancers and in many other types of tumor. DCC is expressed in normal bone marrow and peripheral lymphocytes, nevertheless DCC expression was absent or greatly reduced in 30% of acute leukemias and in 25% of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemias (CML). DCC encodes a transmembrane glycoprotein closely related to the adhesion molecules of the Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (N-CAM) family. Glycoproteins of this family function like cell surface receptors and are involved in the regulation of many functions including cell recognition and cell differentiation. Highly specialized adhesion molecules participate in the regulation of hemopoiesis by mediating the interactions of hemopoietic cells with the components of the bone marrow microenvironment. Therefore, loss of DCC, as well as loss or alteration of other adhesion receptors, could contribute to leukemogenesis by impairing the interactions of the hemopoietic cells with the bone marrow microenvironment.

Expression of a Homologue of the Deleted in Colorectal Cancer (DCC) Gene in the Nervous System of Developing Xenopus Embryos

The deleted in colorectal cancer (DCC) gene has been identified as a candidate tumor suppressor gene on the basis of frequent allelic loss and decreased or absent gene expression in several human cancer types, as well as somatic mutations in the gene in colorectal tumors. We have identified a Xenopus DCC homologue (XDCCα) predicted to encode a protein of 1427 amino acids and have characterized XDCC expression in developing embryos and adult tissues. The predicted amino acid sequences of XDCCα and human DCC are greater than 80% identical; each has four immunoglobulin-like domains, six fibronectin type III domains, and a cytoplasmic domain of about 325 amino acids. While RNase protection assays and immunoblotting studies failed to detect XDCCα expression in embryos prior to developmental stage 15, XDCCα expression was present in embryos from stages 19 to 46. Whole mount in situ hybridization studies localized XDCCα expression to developing forebrain, midbrain, and hindbrain regions. DCC expression was inhibited by treatments that altered the development of mature neural structures; specifically, uv-ventralized embryos and exogastrulae had reduced DCC expression. These results Indicate that XDCC α is developmentally regulated and expressed as a consequence of neural induction. Moreover, unlike some well-characterized tumor suppressor genes, such as the p53 and retinoblastoma genes, that are not differentially expressed in developing Xenopus embryos, the DCC gene may have a specific role in the morphogenesis of the brain and perhaps other tissues and organs.

The DCC gene product in cellular differentiation and colorectal tumorigenesis.

The analysis of human colorectal tumors has revealed frequent loss of heterozygosity (LOH) of the long arm of chromosome 18. A novel gene, DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer), located within the region of LOH on chromosome 18q was identified and has been implicated as a tumor suppressor gene. We have now shown that DCC encodes a membrane-bound protein of the immunoglobulin-CAM family, as demonstrated by cell-surface labeling, immunohistochemical analysis, and sequencing of cDNA clones. The DCC protein was found in axons of the central and peripheral nervous system and in differentiated cell types of the intestine. Colorectal tumors that lost their capacity to differentiate into mucus producing cells uniformly lacked DCC expression and loss of a chromosome 18q allele was often accompanied by loss of DCC expression in colon tumors. These results provide evidence that DCC encodes a cell surface-localized protein and emphasize the inverse relationship between differentiation and tumorigenesis.

DCC tumor suppressor gene is inactivated in hematologic malignancies showing monosomy 18

DCC (deleted in colorectal cancer) is a candidate tumor suppressor gene recently identified on chromosome band 18q21. Loss of one DCC allele or decreased DCC expression occurs in more than 70% of colorectal cancers, suggesting that DCC inactivation constitutes a critical event in the development of these tumors. Using polymerase chain reaction amplification of cDNA, we have studied DCC expression in bone marrow from 4 patients with leukemia (1 chronic myeloid leukemia-blastic crisis, case 1; 1 acute myeloid leukemia, case 2; 1 T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia [ALL], case 3; 1 B-cell ALL, case 4) showing loss of one DCC allele due to monosomy 18. We also studied DCC expression in multiple control samples, including normal lymphocytes, normal tonsillar tissue, and leukemias without 18q abnormalities. Four primer pairs consistently amplified the predicted DCC sequences from cDNA prepared from all control samples. However, in samples with monosomy 18, DCC transcripts were either not detected (case 1) or detected at a very low level (cases 2, 3, and 4). Southern analysis showed no structural rearrangement of the remaining DCC locus in all leukemia samples. Thus, loss of DCC expression was demonstrated in association with loss of one DCC allele in all cases tested. These results suggest that, as for colorectal tumors, the inactivation of DCC can have a role in the development of hematologic malignancies.