• DOI:10.1042/BST025356S
• Corpus ID: 33726715

CD44 expression in human breast cancer cell lines is related to oestrogen receptor (ER) status and confluency in vitro.

@article{Bolodeoku1997CD44EI,
  title={CD44 expression in human breast cancer cell lines is related to oestrogen receptor (ER) status and confluency in vitro.},
  author={John Bolodeoku. and K. Yoshida and Takashi Sugino and Michael Churchman and Anthony C. Woodman and Steve Goodison and David Tarin},
  journal={Biochemical Society transactions},
  year={1997},
  volume={25 2},
  pages={
          356S
        }
}

• J. Bolodeoku., K. Yoshida, +4 authors D. Tarin
• Published 1 May 1997
• Biology
• Biochemical Society transactions

The CD44 gene amdes a family of multifunctional cell surface glycoproteins, assembled by alternative splicing mechanisms (I). It is known tobe overin a large variety of human tumours, but the bdogical significance and clinical implications of this abnormality are still being explored (2,3). One group has reported that a specific isoform can confer metastatic capability on a rat pancreatic carcinoma cell line (4). 'Ihere is currently little information on whether CD44 gene products could exert a comparable role in the behaviour of human tumour cells. We examined CD44 gene expression in a group of human breast cancer cell lines in vim, as a prelude to studymg whether this gene plays a role in the behaviour of human tumour cells in vivo, using revme transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), followed by blot h j h d m t h and Westan blotting. The experiments were carried out in subconfluent cells. All the cell lines were cultured under standardised conditions in RPMl supplemented media with 10% foetal calf serum. Using RT-PCIUblot hybridisation, the patterns of CD44s (standard) and CD44v (variant) transcripts produced by the nonmetastatic (MDA-MB-2C5) and the metastatic cell lines (MDA-MB4A4) were similar for both CD44s and CD44v. The oestrogen receptor positive (ER+ve) &:ZR-75-1, MF-7 and T47D, contained more larger CD44v transcripts than the ER-ve celIs:MDA-MB-435, MDA-MB4A4, MDA-MB-2C5 and Du4475 (Figure 1). Convasely, the ER-ve cell h showed poportionately more of the 482bp amplicon corresponding to CD44s than the larger CD44v amplicons. Note that Du4475, which grows preferentially in suspension, produced the least CD44s and only little detectable CD44v transcripts.