Defective organization of actin in cultured skin fibroblasts from patients with inherited adenocarcinoma

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Abstract
In the cytoplasm of well spread cultured normal fibroblasts, actin is organized into a network of cables that run the length of the cell just inside the adherent cell membrane. A diffuse matrix replaces the cables in fibroblasts that became tumorigenic as a result of oncogenic transformation. A similar disruption was found in actin organization in cultured skin fibroblasts obtained by biopsy from patients with the inherited colonic cancer, adenomatosis of the colon and rectum (ACR). Because ACR is inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, about half of the children of ACR patients will develop colon cancer, but they typically remain asymptomatic until at least the 2nd decade of life. Actin distribution within cultured cells from children of ACR patients was identical to that seen in cultured cells from normal persons or that seen in cultured cells from ACR patients. The 2 different patterns were independent of age, sex, drug treatment or infections of the donors. This class of colonic carcinoma is accompanied by a systemic aberration in the organization of fibroblast cytoplasm, and this aberration can be detected by immunofluorescent localization of actin within cultured skin fibroblasts, prior to manifestation of any colonic symptoms.

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