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[Cancer Research 60, 3072-3080, June 1, 2000]
© 2000 American Association for Cancer Research


Tumor Biology

Expression of Polysialic Acid and STX, a Human Polysialyltransferase, Is Correlated with Tumor Progression in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer1

Fumihiro Tanaka, Yosuke Otake, Tatsuo Nakagawa, Yozo Kawano, Ryo Miyahara, Mio Li, Kazuhiro Yanagihara, Jun Nakayama, Ichiro Fujimoto, Kazuhiro Ikenaka and Hiromi Wada2

Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507 [F. T., Y. O., T. N., Y. K., R. M., M. L., K. Y., H. W.]; Central Clinical Laboratories, Shinshu University Hospital, Matsumoto, Nagano 390-8621 [J. N.]; and Neuron Information Laboratory, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, Myodaiji, Okazaki, Aichi 444-8585 [I. F., K. I.], Japan


    ABSTRACT
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Polysialic acid (PSA) is a carbohydrate composed of a linear homopolymer of {alpha}-2-8-linked sialic acid residues and is mainly attached to the neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM). Because of the large negative charge of PSA, presence of PSA attenuates the adhesive property of NCAM and increases the cellular motility. PSA expression on NCAM is developmentally regulated, and PSA plays important roles in formation and remodeling of the neural system through regulation of the adhesive property of NCAM. Expression of the polysialated form of NCAM has been also demonstrated in some malignant tumors, such as Wilms’ tumor and small cell lung cancer. Despite the possible importance as an oncodevelopmental antigen, however, significance of PSA expression in most malignant tumors has not been revealed. Therefore, PSA expression in non-small cell lung cancer was assessed in the present study. PSA was expressed only in 5 (20.8%) of 24 pathological stage I cases, whereas it was expressed in most stage IV cases (76.8%, 11 of 14 cases). PSA expression was correlated with nodal metastasis and distant metastasis, but not with local extent of the primary tumor. Next, expression of polysialyltransferase genes (PST and STX genes) which controlled formation of PSA, was examined. The PST gene was constantly expressed in both normal lung tissue and tumor tissue of all cases. In contrast, the STX gene was not expressed in normal lung tissue of any case, and STX gene expression in tumor tissue was closely correlated with tumor progression. The STX gene was expressed only in 1 (4.2%) of 24 stage I cases, whereas it was expressed in most stage IV cases (85.7%, 12 of 14 cases). These results suggested that the PSA and STX genes could be new targets of cancer therapy as well as important clinical markers.


    INTRODUCTION
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Primary lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in industrialized countries. Although NSCLC3 accounts for approximately 80% of primary lung cancer, recent advances in the therapy have been limited (1) . Therefore, establishment of more effective therapeutic modalities for NSCLC is needed, for which biological features of NSCLC should be revealed more clearly and discovery of a new target for the therapy is essential.

Carbohydrates expressing on cell surface play important roles in cell-cell and/or cell-matrix interactions. PSA is a carbohydrate composed of a linear homopolymer of {alpha}-2-8-linked sialic acid residues and is mainly attached to the NCAM (2 , 3) . Because of the large negative charge of PSA, presence of PSA attenuates the adhesive property of NCAM and removal of PSA increases the binding between NCAM-expressing cells (4) . It is well known that PSA expression on NCAM is developmentally regulated; although the polysialilated form of NCAM (PSA-NCAM) is abundant in a variety of embryonic tissues, the majority of NCAM in adult tissues lacks PSA. In the embryonic brain, PSA expressed on NCAM reduces the NCAM adhesion, which increases cellular motility and allows cell migration and neurite outgrowth (2 , 3 , 5) . In the adult brain, although PSA is lost from NCAM in most areas, PSA-NCAM is expressed only in the hippocampus and olfactory bulb where structural and synaptic rearrangement continue even in the adult (2 , 3) . Thus, PSA plays important roles in formation and remodeling of the neural system through regulation of adhesive property of NCAM.

Reexpression of PSA-NCAM has been demonstrated in some malignant tumors, although PSA is lost from NCAM in most adult tissues. Roth et al. (6 , 7) revealed that PSA was expressed and attached to NCAM in Wilms’ tumor. Expression of PSA-NCAM was also found in neuroblastoma (8) , natural killer cell derived-lymphoma (9) , and pancreatic carcinoma with neural invasion (10) , suggesting that PSA-NCAM was closely related to the development of some kinds of malignant tumors. Moreover, expression of PSA-NCAM was found in SCLC, which was characterized by high metastatic potential and rapid cell proliferation (10) . Scheidegger et al. (11) established two sublines, E2 without PSA expression and E3 with PSA expression, from a human SCLC-derived cell line (NCI-H69). Interestingly, the PSA-positive E3 clone demonstrated high metastatic potential, and the PSA-negative E2 clone had very low metastatic potential, although a comparable amount of NCAM was expressed in E3 and E2 clones. The results suggested that PSA allowed PSA-positive cancer cells to detach from primary tumor by attenuating the adhesive property of NCAM, and that PSA was involved with the metastatic potential.

However, there have been few reports on expression of PSA in other malignant tumors, including NSCLC. Although Pujol et al. (12) examined NCAM expression in NSCLC, they did not report on PSA expression. Thus, significance of PSA expression in most malignant tumors has not been revealed despite the possible importance as an oncodevelopmental antigen, probably because tools available for studying on PSA had been limited to antibodies against PSA and endo-N, which specifically recognized and cleavaged PSA (2) . However, two polysialyltransferases that synthesize PSA have been recently cloned, and thereafter studies on PSA have been markedly improved. It has been reported that these two polysialyltransferases, PST [for human (13) , PST-1 for hamster (14) , and ST8SiaII for mouse (15) ] and STX [for human (16, 17, 18) , STX-1 for rat (19) , and ST9SiaIV for mouse (20) ], can independently synthesize PSA. Expression of polysialyltransferase genes is developmentally regulated; both expression of the PST gene and that of the STX gene are strong in the embryonic brain and attenuate in the adult brain like expression of PSA (13 , 16 , 18 , 21) . However, there are some differences between the expression patterns of the PST gene and that of the STX gene. In the adult brain, the PST gene is abundantly expressed in the amygdala, subthalamic nucleus, cerebral cortex, and occipital pole, whereas the STX gene is strongly expressed in the hippocampus, medulla oblongata, and putamen. In other human adult tissues, the PST gene is expressed in a variety of tissues (such as the heart, placenta, spleen, thymus, small intestine, and peripheral blood leukocyte), whereas the STX gene is expressed in limited tissues, such as the heart and thymus (18) . These results suggest that expression of the PST gene and that of the STX gene are independently regulated and that each polysialyltransferase might have different biological roles. However, biological roles of each polysialyltransferase, especially in development and progression of malignant tumors, have not been revealed. In the present study, to clarify the biological and clinical significance of PSA in NSCLC, expression of PSA and that of polysialyltransferase genes in NSCLC were examined.


    MATERIALS AND METHODS
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Patients and Tissue Samples.
Primary lung tumor tissues and corresponding normal lung tissues were obtained from 57 patients with NSCLC and 4 patients with SCLC, during operation at Kyoto University Hospital, after informed consent was taken. No contamination of cancer cells in normal lung tissues was confirmed microscopically. p-stage was determined by the current tumor-node-metastasis classification, as revised in 1997 (22) . Histological type was determined using the classification by the WHO (23) . Samples were immediately snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80°C until use. For histological examination, samples were fixed in 10% (v/v) formalin and then embedded in paraffin. Serial 4-µm sections were prepared from each sample and served for H&E staining and IHS.

IHS.
To detect expression of PSA and NCAM, TSA-Indirect Kit (NEN Life Science Products, Boston, MA), a sensitive IHS system was used (24) . To detect PSA, anti-PSA mAb 12F8 (rat IgM, 500 µg/ml; PharMingen, San Diego, CA), which recognized specifically PSA (18) , was used as a primary antibody. To detect a nonpolysialylated form of NCAM, anti-NCAM (CD56) mAbs 123C3 (mouse IgG1, 1000 µg/ml; Zymed, South San Francisco, CA) and ERIC-1 (mouse IgG1, 200 µg/ml; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Santa Cruz, CA) were used. All of the procedures were performed following the manufacture’s protocol. To confirm "true" PSA expression, sections with and without pretreatment of endo-N were used for every IHS for PSA (24) . For pretreatment of endo-N, sections were incubated with endo-N (50 µg/ml), a kind gift from Dr. Y. Kawase (NGK Insulators, Ltd., Handa, Aichi, Japan), for 60 min at 37°C (6 , 26 , 27) .

RNA Isolation and RT-PCR.
Total RNA was purified using the RNeasy mini kit (QIAGEN GmbH, Hilden, Germany), following the manufacturer’s protocol. To digest contaminated DNA, extracted RNA was incubated with DNase (Nippon Gene, Toyama, Japan). RT of total RNA was performed using the Ready-To-Go You-Prime First-Strand Beads and random hexomer (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Piscataway, NJ), following the manufacturer’s protocol. For accurate evaluation of expression of the STX and PST genes using RT-PCR assay, cDNA aliquots were diluted at more than four cDNA concentrations. Measurements were taken in a linear phase of the reaction where cDNA concentration is directly proportional to the signal intensity (28) .

The sense and antisense primers used for PCR amplification of the STX gene were 5'-TCAAGCACAACATCCAGCCAG-3' and 5'-AGGGGTTCATGGTTACCAGGTC-3', which amplified a 399-bp fragment. The sense and antisense primers used for PCR amplification of the PST gene were 5'-ATGTGGAAAGGAGATTGACAG-3' and 5'-AGTGTATACATGAGAAGACCTGT-3', which amplified a 436-bp fragment (20) . PCR primers for the GAPDH gene, used as a internal control, were purchased from Clontech Laboratories Inc. (Palo Alto, CA), and the sequences were 5'-ACCACAGTCCAGCCATCAC-3' and 5'-TCCACCACCCTGTTGCTGTA-3', which amplify a 452-bp fragment. PCR amplification was carried out with an initial 9 min of preincubation at 95°C to activate the AmpliTaq Gold (Perkin-Elmer Corp., Foster City, CA), followed by the following profile: denaturation at 94°C for 30 s, annealing at 60°C for 60 s, and extension at 72°C for 60 s. The number of cycles for STX or PST gene amplification was 35, and that for GAPDH gene amplification was 25. PCR products were electrophoresed on 2% agarose gels, and gels were stained with ethidium bromide. The identities of PCR products were confirmed by DNA sequencing. In every PCR run, cDNA templates obtained from a resected human thymus tissue, in which both STX and PST genes were expressed, were used as a positive control, and tubes containing all ingredients, except for cDNA templates, were also used as a negative control. In addition, in every PCR run, it was confirmed that no PCR product was amplified in tubes containing RNA samples without RT reaction.

Statistical methods.
Counts were compared by the {chi}2 test. Continuous data were compared using Student’s t test if the distribution of samples was normal, or using Mann-Whitney U test if the sample distribution was asymmetrical. Differences were considered significant when P was less than 0.05. All statistical manipulations were performed using the SPSS for Windows software system (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL).


    RESULTS
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
PSA Expression in Primary Lung Cancer.
PSA expression in primary lung cancer was examined immunohistochemically. In all SCLC cases, positively stained signals were demonstrated and the signals disappeared with pretreatment of endo-N, which confirmed the "true" PSA expression (Fig. 1 and BCitation ). PSA expression proved to be positive in 28 (49.1%) of 57 cases with NSCLC (Table 1Citation and Fig. 1 and ECitation ). The correlation between PSA expression and the patients’ characteristics was analyzed in NSCLC cases (Table 2)Citation and PSA expression proved to be closely correlated with p-stage (P < 0.002). PSA expression was positive only in 5 (20.8%) of 24 p-stage I cases, whereas it was positive in 9 (69.2%) of 13 stage III cases and 11 (78.6%) of 14 stage IV cases. The correlation between PSA expression and each factor of tumor progression [i.e., extent of primary tumor (T-factor), nodal involvement (N-factor), or distant metastasis (M-factor)] was also analyzed (Fig. 2Citation ). Whereas no correlation between PSA expression and T-factor was demonstrated, PSA expression was significantly correlated with N-factor and M-factor. PSA was expressed more frequently in node-positive (N1–3) cases (69.6%, 16 of 23 cases) than in negative (N0) cases (35.3%, 12 of 34 cases; P = 0.011). PSA was expressed in most cases with distant metastasis (78.6%, 11 of 14 cases), whereas it was expressed in only 17 of 43 (39.5%) cases without distant metastasis (P = 0.011).



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Fig. 1. Expression of PSA and NCAM in primary lung cancer. IHS for PSA using 12F8 as a primary antibody in a SCLC case (A) and in a NSCLC, poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma case (D), respectively. In IHS for PSA after treatment of endo-N, which specifically digests PSA, positive signals seen in A and D disappeared (B and E), which confirmed the true PSA expression. NCAM expression was strongly positive in the SCLC case (C) and was moderately positive in the NSCLC case (F).

 

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Table 1 Characteristics of patients and expression of PSA, NCAM, and polysialyl transferase genes (PST and STX genes)

 

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Table 2 Expression of PSA according to the patients’ characteristics in NSCLC

 


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Fig. 2. Correlation between pathological T-, N-, or M-factor and PSA expression in NSCLC. The percentage of positive PSA expression patients was significantly higher in cases with lymph node metastases (N1–3 diseases, P = 0.011) or in cases with distant metastases (M1 disease, P = 0.011). PSA expression proved not to be involved with pathological T-factor.

 
The correlation between PSA expression and tumor progression was analyzed in each histological type. For squamous cell carcinoma or large cell carcinoma, there proved to be no statistically significant correlation, probably because of small number of cases with each histological type. For adenocarcinoma, there proved to be a significant correlation between PSA expression and p-stage (P = 0.013) or M-factor (P = 0.015). That is, PSA expression was positive in 5 (20.8%) of 19 p-stage I, none (0.0%) of one stage II, 6 (60.0%) of 10 stage III, and 8 (72.7%) of 11 stage IV cases with adenocarcinoma.

Analysis of correlation between PSA expression and tumor differentiation revealed that PSA was expressed more frequently in moderately to poorly differentiated tumor than in well-differentiated tumor (Fig. 3Citation ). Although PSA was expressed more frequently in squamous cell carcinoma cases than in adenocarcinoma cases, the difference was probably due to the fact that most adenocarcinomas were classified into well-differentiated tumor.



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Fig. 3. PSA expression in NSCLC according to the grade of tumor differentiation. PSA expression was positive in only 5 of 25 (20.0%) cases with well-differentiated tumor, whereas it was positive in 15 of 20 (75.0%) and 8 of 12 (66.7%) cases with moderately and poorly differentiated tumors, respectively (P < 0.001). Thus, PSA was positive in 23 of 32 (71.9%) cases with moderately to poorly differentiated tumor. Large cell carcinoma was classified into poorly differentiated tumor.

 
NCAM expression in NSCLC.
To clarify whether the carrier molecule of PSA expressed on NSCLC cells was NCAM, expression of NCAM to which PSA was usually attached was examined. IHS using 123C3 mAb revealed that NCAM expression was positive in 9 of 57 (15.8%) NSCLC cases (Tables 1Citation 2Citation 3Citation and Fig. 1FCitation ). Although IHS using ERIC-1, another mAb against NCAM, demonstrated almost the same staining pattern, the reactivity was rather weak as compared with that of 123C3. That is, NCAM expression was detected with ERIC-1 only in six of nine cases that showed positive NCAM expression with 123C3. In the present study, analysis of NCAM expression was performed based on results of IHS using 123C3.


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Table 3 Expression of NCAM according to the patients’ characteristics in NSCLC

 
In all of the NCAM-positive cases, PSA expression was also positive, which suggested that NCAM was a carrier molecule in such cases. However, NCAM expression was negative in the other 48 cases. Among the NCAM-negative cases, PSA was expressed in 19 (39.6%) cases, which suggested that PSA was attached to some molecules other than NCAM in such cases (Table 4)Citation . Western blotting analysis was performed to reveal characteristics of the carrier molecules of PSA. In some cases showing positive NCAM expression by IHS, Western blotting analysis revealed a broad band with a high molecular weight around Mr 200,000 that was digested with endo-N treatment, which seemed to represent PSA-NCAM (data not shown). In other patients, no apparent signal was demonstrated with Western blotting analysis, and characteristics of the carrier molecules of PSA could not be revealed.


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Table 4 Comparison of the patients’ characteristics according to PSA expression and NCAM

 
The correlation between the NCAM expression in NSCLC and the patients’ characteristics was analyzed. In contrast to PSA expression, NCAM expression was not correlated with tumor progression (Table 3)Citation . With respect to tumor differentiation, NCAM was expressed in only a few cases with well-differentiated tumor (Fig. 4Citation ).



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Fig. 4. NCAM expression in NSCLC according to the grade of tumor differentiation. NCAM expression was positive in only 1 of 25 (4.0%) cases with well-differentiated tumor, whereas it was positive in 4 of 20 (20.0%) and 4 of 12 (33.3%) cases with moderately and poorly differentiated tumors, respectively. Thus, NCAM was positive in 8 of 32 (25.0%) cases with moderately to poorly differentiated tumor, and the rate of positive NCAM expression was significantly higher than that in well-differentiated tumor cases (P = 0.031). Large cell carcinoma was classified into poorly differentiated tumor.

 
The patients’ characteristics were compared after all of the patients were divided into the following three groups based on PSA and NCAM status: NCAM-positive and PSA-positive groups (n = 9); NCAM-negative and PSA-positive groups (n = 19); and NCAM-negative and PSA-negative groups (n = 29; Table 4Citation and Figs. 5Citation 6Citation 7Citation ). Interestingly enough, the NCAM-negative and PSA-positive groups, not the NCAM-positive and PSA-positive groups, showed the most advanced tumor extent. Most cases in the NCAM-negative and PSA-positive groups had p-stage III or IV disease. In contrast, more than half of the cases (19 of 29) in the NCAM-negative and PSA-negative groups had p-stage I disease (Fig. 7Citation ). These results strongly suggested that PSA, not NCAM, played important roles in tumor progression, especially in nodal and/or distant metastases.



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Fig. 5. Distribution of histological type in negative PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(-)/NCAM(-)] cases, in positive PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(-)] cases, and in positive PSA expression and positive NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(+)] cases. No significant difference in distribution of histological type was demonstrated (P = 0.102).

 


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Fig. 6. Distribution of tumor differentiation in negative PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(-)/NCAM(-)] cases, in positive PSA expression and positive NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(+)] cases, and in positive PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(-)] cases. Twenty (69%) of 29 PSA(-)/NCAM(-) cases had well-differentiated tumor, whereas only 1 (11%) of 9 PSA(+)/NCAM(+) cases and 4 (21%) of 19 PSA(+)/NCAM(-) cases had well-differentiated tumor (P < 0.002).

 


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Fig. 7. Distribution of p-stage of NSCLC cases in negative PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(-)/NCAM(-)] cases, in positive PSA expression and negative NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(-)] cases, and in positive PSA expression and positive NCAM expression [PSA(+)/NCAM(+)] cases. Most (17 of 19) cases in the PSA(+)/NCAM(-) group had p-stage IIIB or IV disease.

 
Expression of Polysialyltransferase Genes in Primary Lung Cancer.
In our preliminary experiment using Northern blotting analysis, there proved to be almost no expression of the PST or STX genes in normal lung or tumor tissue. In addition, it has been already reported that expression of both polysialyltransferase genes was attenuated in most adult tissues, including the lung (19) . Thus, RT-PCR was used in the present study (Fig. 8Citation ). Interestingly, the PST gene was expressed in both normal lung and tumor tissues of all SCLC and NSCLC cases, whereas STX was not expressed in normal lung tissue of any case. Expression of the PST gene in the normal lung was also confirmed by RT-PCR using normal lung tissues obtained from noncancerous patients as templates. STX gene expression in tumor tissues was positive in 25 of 57 (43.9%) NSCLC cases, whereas it was positive in all SCLC cases (Table 5)Citation .



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Fig. 8. Expression of polysialyltransferase genes (PST and STX genes) in primary lung cancer using RT-PCR. Lane M, marker; Lanes 1 and 2, tumor (Lane 1) and normal lung tissue (Lane 2) of a SCLC case; Lanes 3 and 4, tumor (Lane 3) and normal lung tissue (Lane 4) of a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma case with distant metastasis; Lanes 5 and 6, tumor (Lane 5) and normal lung tissue (Lane 6) of a poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma case with mediastinal lymph node metastases; Lanes 7 and 8, tumor (Lane 7) and normal lung tissue (Lane 8) of a p-stage IA moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma case; Lanes 9 and 10, tumor (Lane 9) and normal lung tissue (Lane 10) of a p-stage IA well-differentiated adenocarcinoma case. The PST gene is constantly expressed both in tumor tissues and in normal lung. In contrast, the STX gene was not expressed in normal lung tissue of any case (Lanes 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10). In poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma cases with advanced stages (Lanes 3 and 5) as well as in the SCLC case (Lane 1), the STX gene was expressed in tumor tissues. In p-stage IA adenocarcinoma cases, the STX gene was not expressed (Lanes 7 and 9).

 

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Table 5 Expression of STX gene according to the patients’ characteristics in NSCLC

 
The correlation between STX gene expression and characteristics of patients in NSCLC was analyzed. Expression of the STX gene proved to be closely correlated with tumor progression, although not correlated with histological type. The STX gene was expressed in 10 of 13 (76.9%) p-stage III cases and in 12 of 14 (85.7%) p-stage IV cases, whereas it was expressed only in 1 of 24 (4.2%) p-stage I cases (Table 5)Citation . Moreover, STX gene expression was significantly correlated with any factor of tumor progression (T-, N-, or M-factor; Fig. 9Citation ). The STX gene was expressed in most T3–4 cases (84.6%, 11 of 13 cases), in most N1–3 cases (73.9%, 17 of 23 cases), or in most M1 cases (85.7%, 12 of 14 cases).



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Fig. 9. Correlation between pathological T-, N-, or M-factor and STX gene expression in NSCLC. The percentage of positive STX gene expression cases was significantly higher in higher T-factor (T3–4) cases (P < 0.001), in cases with lymph node metastases (N1–3; P < 0.001), and in cases with distant metastases (M1; P < 0.001).

 
Finally, the correlation between expression of the STX gene and expression of PSA/NCAM in NSCLC was analyzed. In all nine cases with positive NCAM expression, PSA expression was also positive, although the STX gene was expressed only in two of nine (22.2%) cases. Of 48 cases without NCAM expression, STX gene expression was positive in 23 cases and negative in 25 cases. PSA was expressed only in 5 of 25 (20.0%) cases with NCAM-negative and STX-negative expression, whereas it was expressed in 14 of 23 (60.9%) cases with NCAM-negative and STX-positive expression. Thus, in contrast to NCAM-positive cases where PSA was also positive regardless of STX gene expression, NCAM-negative cases showed positive expression of PSA mostly when the STX gene was expressed.


    DISCUSSION
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
There have been no reports on PSA and polysialyltransferase in malignant tumor, except some kinds of malignant tumor such as SCLC (6, 7, 8, 9 , 29) . It is well known that PSA increases motility of the neural cells through attenuating the cell-cell and/or cell-matrix adhesion. Moreover, it has been already reported that PSA increases motility of SCLC cells and allows the cancer cells to detach from the primary tumor, which causes formation of metastatic foci (11) . The present study, for the first time, revealed that expression of PSA and a polysialyltransferase (STX) gene were involved with tumor progression of NSCLC.

It has been already revealed using Northern blotting analysis that both expression of the PST gene and that of the STX gene are abundant in the embryonic lung and disappear in the adult lung (18) . However, RT-PCR analysis in the present study revealed that the PST gene was expressed in the adult normal lung tissues, although the STX gene was not. Because the amount of RT-PCR products for the PST gene was smaller, by far, than that for the GAPDH gene, it was suggested that expression of the PST gene could not be detected by Northern blotting. In cancer tissues, the STX gene was expressed only in advanced-stage cases, whereas the PST gene was expressed in all cases, which strongly suggested that the STX gene played critical roles in tumor progression of NSCLC. There have been few reports on the differences between PST and STX (2 , 19 , 30) , and distinct roles of each polysialyltransferase remain unknown. There has been no report on the reason why PST and/or STX are expressed in some adult tissues such as the heart, or no report on the roles of each polysialyltransferase during development of cancer. In the present study, it was proved that expression of PSA in NSCLC was closely correlated with expression of the STX gene. However, it remains unknown whether PSA can be synthesized by STX alone or by STX in cooperation with PST that is constantly expressed in the normal lung.

According to previous reports, {alpha}-subunit of sodium channels is the only carrier molecule of PSA other than NCAM in mammalian cells (31) ; roles of PSA expressed on {alpha}-subunit of sodium channels remain unknown. The present study revealed that 19 of 57 NSCLC cases showed positive PSA expression, although negative NCAM expression, suggesting that PSA can be attached to molecules other than NCAM. Recently, Martersteck et al. (32) have identified Mr 180,000–260,000 proteins in RBL rat basophilic leukemia cells and MCF7 human breast cancer cells as possible carrier molecules of PSA, which suggested that PSA might be more widespread than originally believed. In addition, Nakayama and Fukuda (33) reported that PSA could be attached to fetuin and revealed that NCAM was not required necessarily in PSA expression. Therefore, PSA can be expressed on some adhesion molecules other than NCAM, especially during malignant formation, and PSA may promote formation of metastases by attenuating the adhesive properties of the "unknown" molecules expressed on NSCLC cells.

In all NCAM-positive cases, PSA expression was also positive regardless of status of STX expression, which suggested that NCAM was a good substrate to which PSA could be attached easily. That is, PSA may be synthesized and attached to NCAM by PST alone, independent of STX. In NCAM-negative cases, PSA expression was almost positive if STX was expressed and was almost negative if STX was not expressed. These results suggested that PSA could not be synthesized and attached easily to carrier molecules other than NCAM when PST alone was expressed. Without NCAM expression, PSA might be synthesized only when STX was expressed with or without PST expression. Although carrier molecules of PSA in NSCLC should be examined in additional studies, the present study clearly demonstrated that PSA itself played critical roles in tumor progression, especially formation of metastatic foci. Thus, PSA and STX can be new targets of cancer therapy as well as important clinical markers in NSCLC.


    ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
We thank Tomoko Yamada for excellent preparation of histological sections. We also thank Drs. Masakazu Fukushima (Taiho Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Saitama, Japan) and Hirosato Kondo (Nippon Organon Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan) for helpful discussion. Finally, we thank Dr. Yuji Kawase (NGK Insulators, Ltd., Handa, Aichi, Japan) for providing us with endo-N.


    FOOTNOTES
 
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked advertisement in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

1 Supported by Grant-in-aid 11671317 (to F. T.) for Scientific Research (C) from the Ministry of Education of Japan. Back

2 To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of Thoracic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Kyoto University, Shogoin-kawahara-cho 54, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan. Phone: 81-75-751-3835; Fax: 81-75-751-4647; E-mail: wadah{at}kuhp.kyoto-u.ac.jp Back

3 The abbreviations used are: NSCLC, non-small cell lung cancer; PSA, polysialic acid; NCAM, neural cell adhesion molecule; SCLC, small cell lung cancer; endo-N, endoneuraminidase; IHS, immunohistochemical staining; RT-PCR, reverse transcriptation-polymerase chain reaction; GAPDH, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase; mAb, monoclonal antibody; p-stage, pathologic stage. Back

Received 10/22/99. Accepted 3/30/00.


    REFERENCES
 Top
 ABSTRACT
 INTRODUCTION
 MATERIALS AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 

  1. American Society of Clinical Oncology. ASCO special article: clinical practical guidelines for the treatment of unresectable non-small cell lung cancer. J. Clin. Oncol., 15: 2996-3018, 1997.[Abstract]
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