CD44 and its v6 spliced variant in lung tumors

Expression of CD44 in human lung tumors.

CD44 is an integral membrane glycoprotein that functions as a receptor for the extracellular matrix glycan, hyaluronan. Here we report that CD44 is a novel biomarker for non-small cell lung tumors, squamous metaplasia of the lung, and activated type II pneumocytes. We have examined the expression of CD44 in 12 human lung tumor cell lines and 23 fixed, paraffin-embedded lung cancers. CD44 transc...

SR proteins regulate V6 exon splicing of CD44 pre-mRNA

CD44 pre-mRNA includes 20 exons, of which exons 1-5 (C1-C5) and exons 16-20 (C6-C10) are constant exons, whereas exons 6-15 (V1-V10) are variant exons. V6-exon-containing isoforms have been known to be implicated in tumor cell invasion and metastasis. In the present study, we performed a SR protein screen for CD44 V6 splicing using overexpression and lentivirus-mediated shRNA treatment. Using a...

Regulated expression of exon v6 containing isoforms of CD44 in man: downregulation during malignant transformation of tumors of squamocellular origin

CD44 is a family of glycoproteins involved in cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions. In addition to the major 90-kD form present on most hematopoietic cells, larger 140-230 kD forms are found on keratinocytes and carcinoma cell lines. These bigger isoforms of CD44 arise by alternative splicing that results in insertion of one or more of the "variant" exons into the extracellular part of the 90...

EFFECTS OF INFLAMMATION AND H. PYLORI INFECTION ON EXPRESSION OF CD44 VARIANT EXONS IN GASTRIC TISSUE

A directly spliced exon 10-containing CD44 variant promotes the metastasis and homotypic aggregation of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

Variants of the CD44 cell-surface adhesion molecule include additional sequences encoded by combinations of exons from the membrane proximal domain (exons 6-14). Preliminary studies suggest that these additional variable membrane proximal sequences may alter the ligand specificity, glycosylation, and biologic function of CD44. In earlier studies, we found that primary extranodal and widely diss...