Co-expression of delta-catenin and RhoA is significantly associated with a malignant lung cancer phenotype

Delta-catenin, a member of the p120-catenin subfamily, and the Rho GTPase RhoA both have roles in the regulation of the cytoskeleton. In this study, we found that delta-catenin positive expression and RhoA over-expression is consistently found in non-small cell lung cancer, but not in normal lung tissue, and that their co-expression was significantly associated with histological type, differentiation, pTNM stage, lymphatic metastasis and a poor prognosis. We also demonstrate that delta-catenin can directly interact with RhoA and regulate its activity, which in turn mediates tumor invasion and metastasis.