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Journal of Histochemistry and Cytochemistry, Vol. 47, 1089-1094, August 1999, Copyright © 1999, The Histochemical Society, Inc.

TECHNICAL NOTE

Nuclear ß-catenin in Colorectal Tumors: To Freeze or Not To Freeze?

Assumpta Munnéa,b, Myriam Fabrea, M. Luisa Mariñosoa,b, Manel Gallénc, Francisco X. Reala,d, and for the Colon Cancer Team at IMAS
a Unit of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Municipal Institute of Medical Investigation
b Service of Pathology
c Service of Oncology, Hospital del Mar
d Pompeu Fabra University

Correspondence to: Assumpta Munné, Servei de Patologia, Hospital del Mar, Passeig Maritim 25–29, 08003 Barcelona, Spain.

ß-Catenin mediates the interaction of E-cadherin with {alpha}-catenin and the actin cytoskeleton. Recent evidence indicates that when the tumor suppressor gene APC is inactivated, ß-catenin can translocate to the nucleus, where it acts as a transcriptional regulator. Because APC is inactivated in most colorectal cancers, ß-catenin nuclear localization would be expected in these tumors. In a study of adhesion molecule expression in frozen colorectal cancer tissues, we were surprised by failure to detect nuclear ß-catenin. Here we compared the reactivity of an anti-ß-catenin monoclonal antibody with 11 colorectal cancers using immunohistochemistry on sections of frozen or paraffin-embedded samples. ß-Catenin was never detected in the nuclei of normal or tumor cells in frozen tissue sections. By contrast, in 8/11 cases it was detected in the nuclei of tumor cells but not of normal cells in paraffin-embedded tissue sections. These results were confirmed with an independent rabbit polyclonal anti-ß-catenin serum. We also examined ß-catenin distribution in SW480 colon cancer cells, in which its nuclear accumulation has been reported. As in tissues, nuclear ß-catenin was detected in paraffin-embedded but not in frozen samples. These findings are relevant because of the increasing interest in the study of ß-catenin in tumors, based on its dual role in cell adhesion and transcriptional regulation. (J Histochem Cytochem 47:1089–1094, 1999)

Key Words: ß-catenin, colorectal cancers, frozen sections, paraffin-embedded sections, immunohistochemistry


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