H–cadherin, a novel cadherin with growth inhibitory functions and diminished expression in human breast cancer

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Abstract
A newly identified gene, H–cadherin, is reported. H–cadherin encodes a protein related to the cadherin superfamily of cell adhesion molecules, and its expression is shown to be significantly reduced in human breast carcinoma cell lines and breast cancer specimens. H–cadherin was localized to chromosome 16q24 and is highly expressed in the heart. Introduction of H–cadherin cDNA markedly diminished tumor cell growth and resulted in a significant change from invasive morphology to a normal cell–like morphology in the Matrigel outgrowth assay. These studies indicate that downregulation of H–cadherin may be frequent in the breast malignant progression and suggest that it may have prognostic value as a marker for breast cancer development.