Desmoglein-2 is overexpressed in non-small cell lung cancer tissues and its knockdown suppresses NSCLC growth by regulation of p27 and CDK2.

Purpose Desmoglein-2 (Dsg2) is a cell adhesion protein of the cadherin superfamily. Altered Dsg2 expression is associated with tumorigenesis. This study determined Dsg2 expression in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissue specimens for association with clinicopathological and survival data and then assessed the effect of Dsg2 knockdown on regulation of NSCLC cell malignant behaviors in vitro and in nude mouse xenografts.