Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 28, 2026

An Orthotopic Mouse Model of Anaplastic Thyroid Carcinoma
Published on: April 17, 2013
Junctional adhesion molecule-A is down-regulated in anaplastic thyroid carcinomas and reduces cancer cell
Francesca Maria Orlandella1, Raffaela Mariarosaria Mariniello2,3, Paola Lucia Chiara Iervolino1
1IRCCS SDN, Napoli, Italy.
Abstract:
Junctional adhesion molecule A (JAM-A) is a transmembrane protein that contributes to different biological process, including the epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT). Through an EMT profiler array, we explored the molecular players associated with human thyroid cancer progression and identified JAM-A as one of the genes mostly deregulated. The quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction and immunohistochemistry analyses showed that downregulation of JAM-A occurred in anaplastic thyroid carcinoma (ATC) compared with normal thyroid (NT) and papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) tissues and correlated with extrathyroid infiltration, tumor size, and ATC histotype. In ATC cell lines, JAM-A restoration suppressed malignant hallmarks of transformation including cell proliferation, motility, and transendothelial migration. Accordingly, knockdown of JAM-A enhanced thyroid cancer cell proliferation and motility in PTC cells. Through the proteome profiler human phospho-kinase array, we demonstrated that higher expression of JAM-A was associated with a significant increased level of phosphorylation of p53 and GSK3 α/β proteins. In conclusion, our findings highlight a novel role of JAM-A in thyroid cancer progression and suggest that JAM-A restoration could have potential clinical relevance in thyroid cancer treatment.
Related Concept Videos
Negative Regulator Molecules
Aggression
Immunoglobulin-like Cell Adhesion Molecules
Ig-CAMs exhibit either homophilic binding (to other Ig-CAMs) or heterophilic binding (to other ligands such as integrins). While most Ig-CAMs...
Positive Regulator Molecules
Positive Regulator Molecules
Cell Adhesion Molecules - Types and Functions
CAM Families
The Integrin family of proteins is primarily involved...

