Histology and histopathology Vol.28, nº 9 (2013)

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  • Publication
    Open Access
    Bag-3 expression is involved in pathogenesis and progression of colorectal carcinomas
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Yang, Xue; Tian, Zhong; Gou, Wen-feng; Takahashi, Hiroyuki; Xing, Ya-nan; Takano, Yasuo; Zheng, Hua-Chuan
    Bcl-2-associated athanogene 3 (Bag-3) belongs to a member of the Hsc70 binding co-chaperone Bag-family proteins and has critical roles in protein homeostasis, cell survival, actin organization, cell adhesion, cell motility and tumor metastasis. To clarify the role of Bag-3 in colorectal carcinogenesis and subsequent development, its expression was examined by immunohistochemistry (IHC) and in situ hybridization (ISH) on tissue microarrays containing colorectal carcinomas, adenomas, non-neoplastic mucosa (NNM) and metastatic carcinomas in lymph node and liver. Colorectal carcinoma tissue and cell lines were studied for Bag-3 expression by RT-PCR, Western blot and immunofluorescence. The results demonstrated that Bag3 was distinctly expressed in Colo201, Colo205, DLD-1, HCT-15, HCT-116, HT-29, KM-12, SW480, SW620, and WiDr at both mRNA and protein levels. Carcinoma showed stronger Bag-3 expression than adjacent NNM by IHC and Western blot (P<0.05), while its mRNA had the opposite by real-time PCR and ISH (P<0.05). Metastatic carcinoma more frequently expressed Bag-3 mRNA in lymph node and liver than in primary carcinoma (P<0.05). Immunohistochemically, Bag-3 expression was seen to gradually decrease from carcinoma, adenoma to NNM (P<0.05). There was a positive correlation between Bag-3 expression and TNM staging and GRP94 expression (P<0.05), but no relationship to patient age or sex, tumor size, depth of invasion, lymphatic or venous invasion, lymph node metastasis, differentiation or prognosis of colorectal carcinomas (P>0.05). Our study indicated that aberrant Bag-3 expression might be involved in colorectal adenoma-adenocarcinoma sequence and subsequent progression.
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Beta-catenin and survivin expression in keratocystic odontogenic tumor (KCOT). A comparative immunohistochemical study in primary, recurrent and nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS)-associated lesions
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Leonardi, Rosalia; Matthews, J.B.; Loreto, Carla; Musumeci, Giuseppe; Campisi, G.; Lo Muzio, L.; Dos Santos, J.N.; Pastorino, L.; Bufo, P.; Pannone, G.
    Aim: To determine the epithelial expression of ß-catenin and survivin in sporadic (primary, and recurrent) and nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome (NBCCS) keratocystic odontogenic tumour (KCOT) in order to assess activation of the ß-catenin pathway and evidence of apoptotic inhibition, processes that may contribute to the known differences in their biological behaviour. Materials and Methods: Sections from 40 cases of KCOT (19 sporadic/primary; 9 sporadic/recurrent and 12 NBCCS-associated) were immunohistochemically stained for ß-catenin and survivin. The extent and intensity of immunoreactivity within the lining epithelium was assessed, using semi-quantitative scales, independently by two pathologists who were blinded to the clinical-pathological data. Data were analysed using Kruskal-Wallis test and, for pair-wise comparisons, Mann-Whitney test with Bonferroni correction. Results: All cystic epithelial linings stained for ß- catenin and survivin but there were differences in the pattern and intensity of staining among KCOT types. Sporadic primary KCOT showed weaker staining for ß- catenin (P=0.0003) and survivin (P<0.0048) that was restricted to the basal and para-basal layers only, compared to sporadic recurrent and NBCCS-associated KCOT, which showed expression throughout all epithelial layers. There were no differences in ß-catenin expression among recurrent and NBCCS-associated KCOT, whereas the intensity of survivin staining was higher in NBCCS-KCOT (P=0.0003). Nuclear staining for ß-catenin was found exclusively in recurrent (5/9 cases) and NBCCS-associated (4/12 cases) KCOT. Conclusion: The data demonstrate ß-catenin delocalization and survivin over-expression in recurrent sporadic and NBCCS-associated KCOT suggesting that these pathways are related to apoptotic inhibition have a role in KCOT growth and recurrence.
  • Publication
    Open Access
    RANKL is downregulated in bone cells by physical activity (treadmill and vibration stimulation training) in rat with glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Pichler, Karin; Loreto, Carla; Leonardi, Rosalia; Reuber, Tobias; Weinberg, Annelie Martina; Musumeci, Giuseppe
    The aim of this study was to investigate bone tissue and plasma levels of RANKL and OPG in rats with prednisolone-induced osteoporosis and to evaluate the outcomes of physical activity on the skeletal system by treadmill and vibration platform training. Osteoporosis is a disease characterised by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue leading to bone fragility. Vibration exercise is a new and effective measure to prevent muscular atrophy and osteoporosis. The animals were divided into 5 groups. 1: control rats; 2: rats with osteoporosis receiving prednisolone; 3: rats receiving prednisolone and treadmill training; 4: rats receiving prednisolone and vibration stimulation training; 5: rats receiving prednisolone, treadmill and vibration stimulation training. For bone evaluations we used whole-body scans, histology and histomorphometric analysis. RANKL and OPG expression was evaluated by immunohistochemistry and biochemical analysis. After treatment, our data demonstrated that RANKL expression was significantly increased in groups 2 and 3 and decreased in groups 4 and 5. Conversely, OPG expression was significantly decreased in groups 2 and 3 and increased in groups 4 and 5. In conclusion, our findings suggest that mechanical stimulation inhibits the activity of RANKL. This finding provides new insights into the occurrence and progression of osteoporosis.
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Commonly used mesenchymal stem cell markers and tracking labels: Limitations and challenges
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Lin, Ching-Shwun; Xin, Zhong-Cheng; Dai, Jican; Lue, Tom F.
    Early observations that cultured mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) could be induced to exhibit certain characteristics of osteocytes and chondrocytes led to the proposal that they could be transplanted for tissue repair through cellular differentiation. Therefore, many subsequent preclinical studies with transplanted MSCs have strived to demonstrate that cellular differentiation was the underlying mechanism for the therapeutic effect. These studies generally followed the minimal criteria set by The International Society for Cellular Therapy in assuring MSC identity by using CD70, CD90, and CD105 as positive markers and CD34 as a negative marker. However, the three positive markers are co-expressed in a wide variety of cells, and therefore, even when used in combination, they are certainly incapable of identifying MSCs in vivo. Another frequently used MSC marker, Stro-1, has been shown to be an endothelial antigen and whether it can identify MSCs in vivo remains unknown. On the other hand, the proposed negative marker CD34 has increasingly been shown to be expressed in native MSCs, such as in the adipose tissue. It has also helped establish that MSCs are likely vascular stem cells (VSCs) that reside in the capillaries and in the adventitia of larger blood vessels. These cells do not express CD31, CD104b, or α-SMA, and therefore are designated as CD34+CD31-CD140b-SMA-. Many preclinical MSC transplantation studies have also attempted to demonstrate cellular differentiation by using labeled MSCs. However, all commonly used labels have shortcomings that often complicate data interpretation. The ß-gal (LacZ) gene as a label is problematic because many mammalian tissues have endogenous ß-gal activities. The GFP gene is similarly problematic because many mammalian tissues are endogenously fluorescent. The cell membrane label DiI can be adsorbed by host cells, and nuclear stains Hoechst dyes and DAPI can be transferred to host cells. Thymidine analog BrdU is associated with loss of cellular protein antigenicity due to harsh histological conditions. Newer thymidine analog EdU is easier to detect by chemical reaction to azide-conjugated Alexa fluors, but certain bone marrow cells are reactive to these fluors in the absence of EdU. These caveats need to be taken into consideration when designing or interpreting MSC transplantation experiments.
  • Publication
    Open Access
    Changed lineage composition is an early event in breast carcinogenesis
    (F. Hernández y Juan F. Madrid. Universidad de Murcia. Departamento de Biología Celular e Histología, 2013) Hilton, Heidi N.; Kantimm, Silke; Graham, J. Dinny; Clarke, Christine L.
    The epithelium compartment of the human breast is made up of a branching ductal-lobular system, which is lined by a single layer of luminal epithelial cells surrounded by contractile myoepithelial cells. The coordinated development of these two cell types, and maintenance of their relative proportions, is fundamentally important for normal breast morphogenesis. Changes in cell type composition is one of the hallmark features of breast cancer progression, and the vast majority of breast tumors are comprised of luminal cells only, with a complete absence of myoepithelial cells. Despite this striking alteration in relative proportions of luminal and myoepithelial cells in invasive breast cancers compared with normal breast tissue, the steps in this dramatic change in cellular composition remain poorly characterised, nor is it known whether loss of myoepithelial cells is an early event in carcinogenesis. In a panel of breast tissues, we quantitated the proportion of luminal cells relative to the surrounding myoepithelial cell layer in a panel of normal and pre-invasive breast tissue samples, including lesions with proliferative disease without atypia (PDWA), columnar cell lesions (CCL), atypical ductal hyperplasia (ADH), and DCIS, and correlated these findings with proliferation in the same lesions. The study findings showed that changes in lineage composition correlate with increased proliferation, and are one of the earliest events in breast carcinogenesis. Therefore not only are myoepithelial cells important in distinguishing between invasive and non-invasive tumors, their relative proportion compared with luminal cell numbers may provide a new potential indicator of which premalignant lesions are at higher risk of progression to invasive disease.