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Cytoplasmic and/or nuclear staining of beta-catenin is associated with lung metastasis

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Abstract

Beta-catenin is involved in cell motility in the extracellular matrix, and is expressed in normal and neoplastic mesenchymal cells. In order to clarify whether beta-catenin expression in the cytoplasm and/or nucleus is associated with a propensity for pulmonary metastasis in osteosarcoma, the LM8 murine osteosarcoma cell line with a high metastatic potential to the lung was compared with original Dunn cells in terms of the beta-catenin expression level. Both osteosarcoma cell lines lost membrane localization of beta-catenin. However, beta-catenin gene had no mutation in exon 3 by direct sequence analysis. A large number of LM8 cells showed diffuse cytoplasmic and/or nuclear staining of beta-catenin (30.8 per high power field (HPF)), while a much smaller number of Dunn cells showed expression of beta-catenin (7.7 per HPF). Cells with positive staining of beta-catenin were frequently seen at the invasive front and in intravenous tumor deposits within the metastatic lesions to the lung. Thus, LM8 cells express a larger amount of the beta-catenin protein than Dunn cells, as judged by immunoblot analysis. In five resected cases of pulmonary metastasis, translocation of beta-catenin to the cytoplasm and/or nucleus of osteosarcoma cells was detected, although seven primary osteosarcomas cells that did not metastasize for more than five years did not show beta-catenin expression. These data indicate that the cytoplasmic and/or nuclear staining of beta-catenin is a biological marker of metastatic potential of osteosarcoma to the lung.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Tokyo Medical University, Tokyo, Japan

    Keiichi Iwaya, Hitoshi Ogawa, Masahiko Kuroda, Miki Izumi, Tsuyoshi Ishida & Kiyoshi Mukai

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  1. Keiichi Iwaya
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  2. Hitoshi Ogawa
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  3. Masahiko Kuroda
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  4. Miki Izumi
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  5. Tsuyoshi Ishida
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  6. Kiyoshi Mukai
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Correspondence to Kiyoshi Mukai.

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Iwaya, K., Ogawa, H., Kuroda, M. et al. Cytoplasmic and/or nuclear staining of beta-catenin is associated with lung metastasis. Clin Exp Metastasis 20, 525–529 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025821229013

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1025821229013

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