Cadherin-11 is highly expressed in rhabdomyosarcomas and during differentiation of myoblasts in vitro

• Published in: The Journal of pathology Vol. 187; no. 2; pp. 164 - 172
• Main Authors: Markus, Marietta A., Reichmuth, Claudia, Atkinson, Michael J., Reich, Ulrike, Hoffmann, Ines, Balling, Rudi, Anderer, Ursula, Höfler, Heinz
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01-01-1999; Wiley
• Subjects: Animals; Biological and medical sciences; Blotting, Northern; Blotting, Western; C2C12 myoblasts; cadherin-11; Cadherins - metabolism; Cell Culture Techniques; Cell Differentiation - physiology; Child; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Fluorescent Antibody Technique; Humans; Medical sciences; Mice; Mice, Inbred CBA; Muscle, Skeletal - cytology; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; myogenesis; Neoplasm Proteins - metabolism; Pax-3; rhabdomyosarcoma; Rhabdomyosarcoma - metabolism; Tumor Cells, Cultured; Tumors of striated muscle and skeleton; Human; Immunohistochemistry; Cell culture; Sarcoma; Cell adhesion molecule; Rhabdomyosarcoma; Malignant tumor; Cadherin; Cell differentiation; Adhesion; Carcinogenesis; In vitro; Northern blotting; Pathology; In vivo; Striated muscle disease; Established cell line; Myoblast; Immunoblotting assay; Molecular biology; Immunofluorescence
• ISSN: 0022-3417; 1096-9896
• DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1096-9896(199901)187:2<164::AID-PATH208>3.0.CO;2-3

Rhabdomyosarcomas bear a morphological and genetic resemblance to developing skeletal muscle. Apart from myogenic marker genes (bHLH factors, myosin, actin), cell adhesion molecules such as N‐cadherin and N‐CAM have been reported to be expressed both in rhabdomyosarcomas and during myogenesis. The present study demonstrates the expression of another cadherin, cadherin‐11, in rhabdomyosarcomas and during differentiation of myoblasts in vitro: cadherin‐11, a predominantly mesenchymal cell adhesion molecule, is highly expressed in embryonal rhabdomyosarcomas and alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas, which do not bear the Pax‐3–FKHR fusion previously described. Cadherin‐11 is down‐regulated in normal skeletal muscle and after myotube formation in vitro. The results of this study suggest that cadherin‐11 might be involved in myogenesis and that rhabdomyosarcomas may re‐express or fail to down‐regulate cadherin‐11. Since alveolar rhabdomyosarcomas bearing the t(2;13) translocation do not express cadherin‐11, it is postulated that Pax‐3 and cadherin‐11 might be linked and involved in the same myogenic pathway. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.