Expression analysis of epithelial cadherin and related proteins in IBH-6 and IBH-4 human breast cancer cell lines

Epithelial cadherin (E‐cadherin) is a 120 kDa cell–cell adhesion molecule involved in the establishment of epithelial adherens junctions. It is connected to the actin cytoskeleton by adaptor proteins such as β‐catenin. Loss of E‐cadherin expression/function has been related to tumor progression and metastasis. Several molecules associated with down‐regulation of E‐cadherin have been described, within them neural cadherin, Twist and dysadherin. Human breast cancer cell lines IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 were developed from ductal primary tumors and show characteristic features of malignant epithelial cells. In this study expression of E‐cadherin and related proteins in IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 cell lines was evaluated. In IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 cell extracts, only an 89 kDa E‐cadherin form (Ecad89) was detected, which is truncated at the C‐terminus and is present at low levels. Moreover, no accumulation of the 86 kDa E‐cadherin ectodomain and of the 38 kDa CTF1 fragment was observed. IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 cells showed an intracellular scattered E‐cadherin localization. β‐catenin accompanied E‐cadherin localization, and actin stress fibers were identified in both cell types. E‐cadherin mRNA levels were remarkably low in IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 cells. The E‐cadherin mRNA and genomic sequence encoding exons 14–16 could not be amplified in either cell line. Neither the mRNA nor the protein of neural cadherin and dysadherin were detected. Up‐regulation of Twist mRNA was found in both cell lines. In conclusion, IBH‐6 and IBH‐4 breast cancer cells show down‐regulation of E‐cadherin expression with aberrant protein localization, and up‐regulation of Twist; these features can be related to their invasive/metastatic characteristics. J. Cell. Physiol. 222: 596–605, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.