Solid-pseudopapillary tumor (SPT) of the pancreas is characterized by a discohesive appearance of the neoplastic cells. This has been linked to the displacement of E-cadherin and beta-catenin from their normal membrane location, which prevents adherens junctions to form. The nuclear localization of beta-catenin is also a feature of SPT that helps in differential diagnosis. This latter includes pancreatic endocrine tumor (PET) as SPT may show neuroendocrine differentiation, and pancreatic acinar cell carcinoma (ACC) and pancreatoblastoma (PB) that may often show nuclear beta-catenin staining. However, the role of additional cell-cell adhesion systems remains to be elucidated in SPT, particularly that of claudins that are essential components of tight junctions showing modulated expression in diverse tumor types. We studied 20 SPT, 20 nonfunctioning PET, 7 ACC, 2 PB, and their matched normal pancreas for the immunohistochemical expression of claudin family members 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, beta-catenin and E-cadherin. All SPT showed intense membrane claudin 5 and cytoplasmic claudin 2 staining, lack of claudins 3 and 4, and positive cytoplasmic claudins 1 and 7 in few cases. Conversely, PET, ACC, and PB showed strong membrane expression of claudin 7 and lack of claudin 5, whereas claudins 1, 2, 3, and 4 showed variable expression among samples. All SPT showed nuclear beta-catenin and lack of E-cadherin membrane staining, whereas PET, ACC, and PB only showed nuclear beta-catenin in 1, 2, and 2 cases, respectively. SPT shows a peculiar claudin expression profile and the highly specific pattern of claudins 5 and 7 differentiates SPT from PET, ACC, and PB.

BACKGROUND.Uterine serous papillary carcinoma (USPC) represents a highly aggressive variant of endometrial cancer. Using gene expression profiling, we recently identified high expression of the claudin‐3 and claudin‐4 receptors in a limited set of USPC. These tight junction proteins represent the low‐ and high‐affinity receptors, respectively, for the cytotoxic Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) and are sufficient to mediate CPE binding and trigger subsequent toxin‐mediated cytolysis. The potential for targeting this pathway in the treatment of USPC was explored.METHODS.Claudin‐3 and claudin‐4 receptor expression was analyzed at the mRNA and protein levels in flash‐frozen and formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded tissue from 20 consecutive USPC patients. The potential of recombinant CPE as a novel therapy against primary, metastatic, and chemotherapy‐resistant USPC cell lines was also investigated in vitro. Finally, the in vivo therapeutic effect of sublethal doses of CPE was studied in SCID mouse xenografts harboring subcutaneous and intraperitoneal USPC that expressed claudin‐3 and claudin‐4.RESULTS.In all, 100% (20 out of 20) of the primary flash‐frozen USPC tested overexpressed 1 or both CPE receptors by quantitative reverse‐transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Membranous immunoreactivity for claudin‐4 protein expression was documented in the majority of USPC specimens tested by immunohistochemistry, whereas only a low level of membranous staining was found in normal endometrial control tissue samples. When primary and metastatic short‐term USPC cell lines were incubated with different concentrations of CPE in vitro, a dose‐dependent cytotoxic effect was demonstrated. In vivo, intratumoral injections of well‐tolerated doses of CPE in large subcutaneous USPC xenografts led to large areas of tumor cell necrosis and tumor disappearance in all the treated animals, whereas sublethal intraperitoneal injections of CPE had a significant inhibitory effect on tumor progression, with extended survival of animals harboring chemotherapy‐resistant intra‐abdominal USPC carcinomatosis.CONCLUSIONS.Claudin‐3 and claudin‐4 receptors may offer promising targets for the use of CPE as a novel type‐specific therapy against this highly aggressive and chemotherapy‐resistant variant of endometrial cancer. Cancer 2007. © 2007 American Cancer Society.

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to develop and characterize a human antibody in a single-chain antibody fragment format (scFv) that is directed specifically against claudin-3 (CLDN3). STUDY DESIGN The synthetic ETH-2 Gold human antibody phage display library was used to select scFv specific against CLDN3. scFv binding properties were analyzed by surface plasmon resonance; specificity was confirmed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, immunofluorescence, and flow cytometry on a panel of ovarian and uterine serous carcinoma cell lines. RESULTS Surface plasmon resonance studies indicated scFv H6 to be the clone with the highest affinity against CLDN3 (KD of 23.60 nmol/L). scFv H6 efficiently stained CLDN3-expressing cells and recognized its epitope in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that was performed with uterine serous papillary carcinoma native protein extract, which suggested that a conformational epitope is recognized by this antibody. Cell surface immunofluorescence with laser scanning confocal microscopy confirmed the specific binding to the native membrane CLDN3. CONCLUSION scFv H6 may represent a novel antitumor agent against chemotherapy-resistant ovarian and serous papillary carcinomas and other human malignancies that overexpress CLDN3.

Single-chain ribosome inactivating proteins (RIPs) are cytotoxic components of macromolecular pharmaceutics for immunotherapy of cancer and other human diseases. Saporin belongs to a family of single-chain RIPs sharing sequence and structure homology. In a preliminary attempt to define an active saporin polypeptide of minimum size we have generated proteins with deletions at the N-terminus and at the C-terminus. An N-terminal (sapDelta1-20) deletion mutant of saporin displayed defective catalytic activity, drastically reduced cytotoxicity but increased ability to interact with liposomes inducing their permeabilization at low pH. A C-terminal (sapDelta239-253) deletion mutant showed instead a moderate reduction in cytotoxic activity. A substantial alteration of secondary structure was evidenced by Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in the sapDelta1-20 mutant. It can be hypothesized that the defective functions of sapDelta1-20 are due to alterations of its spatial configuration.

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