Original Paper

Coordinated expression of galectin-3 and caveolin-1 in thyroid cancer†

  1. Jay Shankar1,‡,
  2. Sam M Wiseman2,‡,
  3. Fanrui Meng1,
  4. Katayoon Kasaian3,
  5. Scott Strugnell2,
  6. Alireza Mofid1,
  7. Allen Gown4,
  8. Steven JM Jones3,5,
  9. Ivan R Nabi1,*

Article first published online: 10 JUL 2012

DOI: 10.1002/path.4041

Issue

The Journal of Pathology

The Journal of Pathology

Volume 228, Issue 1, pages 56–66, September 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Shankar, J., Wiseman, S. M., Meng, F., Kasaian, K., Strugnell, S., Mofid, A., Gown, A., Jones, S. J. and Nabi, I. R. (2012), Coordinated expression of galectin-3 and caveolin-1 in thyroid cancer. J. Pathol., 228: 56–66. doi: 10.1002/path.4041

Author Information

  1. 1

    Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

  2. 2

    Department of Surgery, St. Paul's Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

  3. 3

    Michael Smith Genome Sciences Center, British Columbia Cancer Agency, Vancouver, BC, Canada

  4. 4

    Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of British Columbia, British Columbia, Canada and Phenopath Laboratories, Seattle, WA, USA

  5. 5

    Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

  1. ‡

    These authors contributed equally to this study.

*Department of Cellular and Physiological Sciences, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.

  1. †

    No conflicts of interest were declared.

  2. ‡

    These authors contributed equally to this study.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 30 JUL 2012
  2. Article first published online: 10 JUL 2012
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 18 APR 2012 06:45AM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 7 APR 2012
  5. Manuscript Revised: 13 MAR 2012
  6. Manuscript Received: 22 NOV 2011

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Keywords:

  • caveolin-1;
  • galectin-3;
  • thyroid cancer;
  • tumour cell migration;
  • focal adhesions;
  • tissue microarray

Abstract

Galectin-3 (Gal3) is the single most accurate marker for the diagnosis of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC). Gal3 overrides the tumour suppressor activity of caveolin-1 (Cav1) and functions in concert with Cav1 to promote focal adhesion turnover and tumour cell migration and invasion. To study their coordinated role in progression of a human cancer, we investigated the expression of Gal3 and Cav1 in specimens of human benign thyroid lesions, DTC and anaplastic thyroid cancer (ATC). Gal3 and Cav1 expression is significantly associated with DTC and ATC, but not benign nodules. Essentially all Cav1-positive DTC cancers express Gal3, supporting the synergistic activity of these two proteins in DTC progression. Similarly, coordinated elevated Gal3/Cav1 expression was observed in three DTC-derived cell lines (papillary TCP1 and KTC1 and follicular FTC133) but only one (ACT1) of five ATC-derived cell lines. Using siRNA knockdown, Gal3 and Cav1 were shown to be required for RhoA GTPase activation, stabilization of focal adhesion kinase (FAK; a measure of focal adhesion signalling and turnover) and increased migration of the DTC cell lines studied, but not the ATC cell lines, including ACT1, which expresses elevated levels of Gal3 and Cav1. Co-expression of Gal3 and Cav1 in the T238 anaplastic cell line stabilized FAK-GFP in focal adhesions. Gal3 and Cav1 therefore function synergistically to promote focal adhesion signalling, migration and progression of DTC. Copyright © 2012 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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