Oncotarget Expression and serum levels of the neural cell adhesion molecule

Oncotarget Volume 11, Issue 13 reported that expression of CHL1 was analyzed in primary tumor specimens and metastases.

CHL1 expression was detected in GIST specimens.

Local CHL1 expression and serum CHL1 levels show a reverse prognostic behavior, highlighting the relevance of proteolytic shedding of the molecule.

Dr. Karl-Frederick Karstens from the Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendor, Hamburg, Germany said, "Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) present a broad clinical spectrum of symptoms due to their various localizations in the gastrointestinal tract and malignant behavior."

"Gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GISTs) present a broad clinical spectrum of symptoms due to their various localizations in the gastrointestinal tract and malignant behavior."

- Dr. Karl-Frederick Karstens, Department of General, Visceral and Thoracic Surgery, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendor

In other tumors, neuronal adhesion molecules of the L1 family like L1 , Nr CAM and Neurofascin have been extensively investigated. described a downregulation of CHL1 in breast cancer and an association with lower tumor grading.

On the other hand, overexpression seemed to suppress the invasion and proliferation of tumor cells.

In addition, a down-regulation of CHL1 via overexpression of mi R-21-5p promotes the propagation and invasion of tumor cells in colon adenocarcinomas.

This research group has recently described a significant role of CHL1 expression in non-small-cell-lung cancer and a correlation with overall survival of the patients.

Figure 1: CHL1 expression analysis in GIST. (A) Relative mRNA expression levels of pan CHL1, and isoforms 1 and 2 in primary GIST, (B) Western blot analyses of CHL1 protein expression in primary tumors and metastases.

Hence, the neuronal adhesion molecule CHL1 might also play a role in the genesis of GIST.

The Karstens Research Team concluded in their Oncotarget Research Paper, "we demonstrated for the first time that GIST express CHL1 and that a significant amount of local CHL1 undergoes cleavage. Hence, reduced membranous CHL1 expression is associated with advanced tumor stages and unfavorable localizations of GIST. In addition, we were able to show that systemic CHL1 levels are increased in GIST patients and an inverse prognostic effect of local and systemic CHL1 levels was found. Finally, we were able to link systemic CHL1 levels with a shortened recurrence free survival independent of other clinicopathological parameters. Hence, serum CHL1 levels might have the potential to serve as a diagnostic and prognostic marker for GIST. Further studies with larger patient cohorts must validate the data of this preliminary study."

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DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.27525

Full text - https://www.oncotarget.com/article/27525/text/

Correspondence to - Karl-Frederick Karstens - k.karstens@uke.de

Keywords - neural cell adhesion molecule L1-like protein (CHL1), gastrointestinal stroma tumor (GIST), survival, prognosis, serum

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