Cathepsin E is a specific marker of dysplasia in APC mouse intestine.

Transcriptional profiling of APC(Min/+) mouse intestinal epithelial tissue has revealed that cathepsin E (catE) manifests high relative expression in adenomas and carcinomas relative to normal epithelium. Real-time RT-PCR data presented previously confirm the presence of catE transcript in APC(Min/+) adenomatous cells compared with samples derived from normal APC(Min/+) and wild-type tissue. At the protein level, strong, highly specific immunohistochemical staining for catE is displayed in dysplastic lesions of APC(Min/+) mice.