Abstract
The expression of the integrin αvβ6 has been correlated with oral SCC invasion. We evaluated its expression in three 4NQO transformed murine oral keratinocyte cell lines (B7E3, B7E11and B4B8). The B7E3 cells were negative for β6, whereas the B7E11 and the B4B8 cells were both positive. The β6 negative B7E3 cells were fibroblast-like in appearance, whereas the B7E11 cells were more epithelial-like. The B4B8 cells were a mixture of the two cell types. Using immunofluorescent microscopy, we found that vimentin was highly expressed in the B7E3 cells, whereas the B7E11 cells keratin positive. The B4B8 cells expressed both filaments. The B7E3 cells formed large tumors when injected into nude mice, whereas the B4B8 cells formed small tumors and the B7E11 cells formed none. These results suggest that the expression of the αvβ6 integrin suppresses tumor formation and may promote the epithelial phenotype in 4NQO-transformed murine oral keratinocytes.
Footnotes
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↵* authors contributed equally to this work
- Received February 1, 2005.
- Accepted February 21, 2005.
- Copyright© 2005 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved