Desmosome and adherens junctions were destabilized, which may trigger keratinocyte-mediated inflammation, possibly via p120-catenin-dependent signalling, suggesting a link between a keratin mutation and SCC, which adds weight to the hypothesis that disturbance of the cytoskeleton represents a major cause in the appearance of the malignant phenotype.
We detected changes in 'boundary cells' within histological sections of human squamous cell carcinomas that were similar to those observed in Drosophila: both E-cadherin and p120-catenin exhibited normal junctional localization at the centers of the tumors but were reduced or delocalized at the boundary.
We have reported previously that abnormal expression of p120-catenin is associated with lymph node metastasis in lung squamous cell carcinomas (SCC) and adenocarcinomas.
The aim of this study was to examine the expression of p120-catenin isoforms in lung cancer and investigate their relationship to clinicopathological factors in lung squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and adenocarcinomas.