The 180 splice variant of NCAM--containing exon 18--is specifically expressed in small cell lung cancer cells
6 March 2018
The Neural Cell Adhesion Molecule (NCAM) is a glycoprotein expressed as 120, 140
and/or 180 kDa isoforms, all derived through alternative splicing of a single gene. NCAM 120 contains no intracellular domain, whereas NCAM 140 and 180 have different intracellular domains determined by alternative splicing of exon 18. NCAM has been described as a biomarker to discriminate small cell lung cancer (SCLC) from non-SCLC (NSCLC). However, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) also express NCAM. We studied the expression of NCAM splice variants in cell lines, tumor tissues and control cells.