端粒酶逆转录酶mRNA和蛋白质在正常肺组织和正常人外周血淋巴细胞表达的研究

用核酸原位杂交和用免疫组织化学法检测了6例豚鼠正常肺组织、10～18例癌旁正常肺组织和14例正常人外周血端粒酶逆转录酶(TERT)亚基的mRNA和相应蛋白质表达.结果显示,豚鼠和人体正常肺组织支气管上皮细胞,肺泡巨噬细胞和少数肺泡上皮细胞有TERTmRNA和蛋白质表达.正常人外周血淋巴细胞中TERT原位杂交阳性表达细胞数为(17.26±8.57)%,免疫组织化学阳性细胞表达数为(28.10±16.78)%.提示①正常肺组织支气管上皮细胞、肺泡巨噬细胞、少数肺泡上皮细胞和外周血淋巴细胞有TERTmRNA和蛋白质表达;②正常肺组织中上述细胞TERTmRNA和蛋白质的表达在生理状况下对于保证支气管上皮和肺泡上皮细胞再生,维持上皮组织的完整性可能起着重要的作用,同时有利于肺泡巨噬细胞发挥其肺内"卫士”功能;③淋巴细胞TERT表达对于维持机体的免疫功能可能有重要作用.     

Micro-lymph node metastasis and its correlation with cathepsin D expression in early gastric cancer.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Limited operations for early gastric cancer (EGC) have been recommended based on data from lymph node (LN) metastasis detected by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining. Recently, the clinical importance of micro-LN metastasis has been reported. In this study, the indication of limited operations for EGC was re-evaluated based on the data from micro-LN metastasis detected by cytokeratin (CK) immunostaining. Also, the correlation between micro-LN metastasis and lysosomal acidic protease cathepsin D (CD) expression in primary tumors was evaluated. METHODS: A total of 5,949 LNs from 160 patients with EGC were stained by anti-CK monoclonal antibody (CAM 5.2). Also, the 160 primary EGCs were stained by CD. RESULTS: The incidence of LN metastasis increased from 7.5% (12/160) by HE-staining to 27.5% (44 of 160) by CK immunostaining. The incidence of micro-LN metastasis increased according to the depth of tumor invasion (mucosal cancer: 19% and submucosal cancer: 36.8%) and the size of tumors (< or = 1.0 cm: 5.9%, 1.1-2.0 cm: 25.6%, and > 2.1 cm: 31.7%). The CK-staining patterns were classified into the three subgroups (CK-negative, n = 116; single cell type, n = 27; and clustered type, n = 17). The occurrence of cancer recurrence was significantly higher in clustered type (17.6%) than in single cell type (3.7%) and in CK-negative (0%, P < 0.0001). The mean percentage of CD-positive cancer cells of primary tumors in clustered type (17.2%) was significantly higher than in single cell type (12.3%) and in CK-negative (7.5%, P = 0.0036). CONCLUSIONS: The acidic protease CD may play an important role of cancer metastasis in EGC. The limited operation without lymphadenectomy should be indicated for EGC with CD-negative.     

EZH2, Ki-67 and MCM7 are prognostic markers in prostatectomy treated patients

The aim of the study was to evaluate the prognostic value of Ki-67, EZH2, MCM7 and EIF3S3 in prostatectomy treated patients. A retrospective population-based material of 249 radical prostatectomy specimens on tissue microarrays was utilized. The median follow-up of the patients was approximately 5.5 years and the main end-point was biochemical progression. The expression of Ki-67, EZH2 and MCM7 was determined by immunohistochemistry and the gene copy number of EIF3S3 was analyzed by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). In the whole material, increased immunostainings of EZH2, MCM7 and Ki-67 were significantly associated with a high Gleason score and a short progression-free survival. In multivariate analysis, MCM7 and Ki-67 showed independent prognostic value with relative risks (RR) of 2.65 (95%-confidence interval of 1.22-5.70), and 1.85 (1.14-3.01), respectively. In subgroup analysis of patients, whose treatment was evaluated to be truly radical (n = 226), EZH2 (3.14, 1.38-7.16), MCM7 (2.70, 1.16-6.30) and PSA (1.5, 1.03-2.20) showed independent prognostic value. In subgroup analysis of cases with a Gleason score <7, low Ki-67 staining was associated with favorable prognosis with RR of 0.09 (0.01-0.69). In conclusion, Ki-67, EZH2 and MCM7 are potential prognostic biomarkers in prostatectomy treated patients.     

Atypical pemphigus with immunoglobulin G autoantibodies against desmoglein 3 and desmocollin 3

In patients with pemphigus vulgaris (PV), pathogenic immunoglobulin (Ig)G antibodies are most commonly directed against desmoglein 3 (Dsg3). It has recently been reported, however, that IgG anti‐desmocollin 3 (Dsc3) antibodies are detected in some cases of pemphigus with or without IgG anti‐Dsg3 antibodies. We present a case of pemphigus with IgG antibodies against Dsg3 and Dsc3. Subsequent studies showed that the cell surface distribution pattern of Dsc3 but not Dsg3 was altered, suggesting that suprabasal acantholytic blisters were induced by IgG anti‐Dsc3 antibodies rather than IgG anti‐Dsg3 antibodies. Our case suggests that anti‐Dsc3 antibodies may be pathogenic in cases positive for the dual cadherin autoantibodies.     

Adenocarcinoma cells in effusion cytology as a diagnostic pitfall with potential impact on clinical management: A case report with brief review of immunomarkers

Distinguishing metastatic carcinoma cells from reactive mesothelial cells in effusion samples is often challenging based on morphology alone. Metastatic carcinoma cells in fluid samples may mimic reactive mesothelial cells due to overlapping cytological features. We report a case of a pleural effusion in a 51‐year‐old female patient with a medical history significant for bilateral ovarian tumors and peritoneal implants diagnosed as serous tumor of borderline malignant potential. The effusion was composed almost entirely of adenocarcinoma cells that morphologically mimicked reactive mesothelial cells. The diagnosis of metastatic adenocarcinoma was made after a wide immunostaining panel of antibodies. Recognizing metastatic adenocarcinoma cells in effusion samples can be challenging and an accurate diagnosis may have significant impact on clinical management as demonstrated by this case. Diagn. Cytopathol. 2012;42:253–258. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Immunolocalization of Wilms’ Tumor protein (WT1) in developing human peripheral sympathetic and gastroenteric nervous system

Developmental expression of Wilms’ tumor gene (WT1) and protein is crucial for cell proliferation, apoptosis, differentiation and cytoskeletal architecture regulation. Recently, a potential role of WT1 has been suggested in the development of neural tissue and in neurodegenerative disorders. We have investigated immunohistochemically the developmentally regulated expression and distribution of WT1 in the human fetal peripheral sympathetic nervous system (PSNS) and the gastro-enteric nervous system (GENS) from weeks 8 to 28 gestational age. WT1 expression was restricted to the cytoplasm of sympathetic neuroblasts, while it progressively disappeared with advancing morphologic differentiation of these cells along both ganglionic and chromaffin cell lineages. In adult tissues, both ganglion and chromaffin cells lacked any WT1 expression. These findings show that WT1 is a reliable marker of human sympathetic neuroblasts, which can be used routinely in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. The progressive loss of WT1 in both ganglion and chromaffin cells, suggests its potential repressor role of differentiation in a precise temporal window during the development of the human PSNS and GENS.     

Distribution of pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating polypeptide (PACAP) in the human testis and in testicular germ cell tumors

Pituitary adenylate cyclase‐activating peptide (PACAP) is a neuropeptide expressed in the central nervous system and peripheral organs. Previous studies revealed the role and distribution of PACAP in the rodent testis, however, its presence in the human testis and in testicular germ cell tumors is not known. We used RT‐PCR and immunohistological observations to investigate whether human testicular tissue and testicular germ cell tumors contain PACAP. The mRNAs for PACAP and its receptors were detected in total RNA extracted from human testes. PACAP immunoreactivity was observed in spermatogonia and spermatids from normal testes. In contrast, diffuse PACAP immunopositivity was observed in seminoma tumor cells, while only faint immunoreactivity was observed in embryonal carcinoma cells. Our data suggest that PACAP may play a role in human spermatogenesis and in testicular germ cell tumor development.     

Immunohistochemical prostatic acid phosphatase level as a prognostic factor of prostatic carcinoma

To determine whether prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) immunoreactivity in prostatic adenocarcinoma is a reliable prognostic factor, the PAP immunohistochemical distribution has been examined in 78 prostatic carcinoma cases. The intensity of PAP immunostaining was graded from 0 to 2, and the scores of the primary and the secondary staining patterns were added to assess the extent of the PAP expression in needle biopsy specimens. As a result, a higher cancer-specific survival rate was observed in patients showing a greater PAP immunostaining (P less than 0.01). Further, a multivariate analysis was made of possible prognostic factors (age, stage, Gleason score, serum PAP, PAP-immunostaining score, and the initial treatment) to estimate the extent of their impact on cancer-specific survival. Results have confirmed that the difference in PAP immunoreactivity is an excellent, independent prognostic factor for prostatic carcinoma.     

Enkephalinergic innervation of GABAergic neurons in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the rat

The preembedding double immunoreaction method was used to study interrelations of enkephalinergic and GABAergic neuronal elements in the dorsal raphe nucleus of the Wistar albino rat. The enkephalin-like neuronal elements were immunoreacted by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method and silver-gold intensified, which showed strongly and was specific. The GABA-like immunoreactive neurons were immunoreacted by the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method only. GABA-like neural somata were postsynaptic to both the enkephalin-like immunoreactive and the non-immunoreactive axon terminals. The enkephalin-like immunoreactive axon terminals were also found to synapse GABA-like immunoreactive dendrites. The GABA-like immunoreactive neuronal elements were also found to receive synapses from other non-immunoreactive as well as GABA-like immunoreactive axon terminals. Almost all of the synapses appeared to be asymmetrical. Possible functional activity of interactions among the enkephalinergic, GABAergic, and serotonergic neuronal elements in the dorsal raphe nucleus are discussed.