Brar Preetinder K, Dalkin Bruce L, Weyer Chris, Sallam Karim, Virtanen Ismo, Nagle Raymond B
Department of Surgery, Division of Urology, University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA.
Prostate. 2003 Apr 1;55(1):65-70. doi: 10.1002/pros.10206.
Laminins (Lns) are a family of extracellular matrix glycoproteins located in the basement membrane (BM) of epithelial cells. They exist as heterotrimers composed of an alpha, beta, and gamma chain. Presently, five alpha (alpha1-5), three beta (beta1-3), and three gamma (gamma1-3) chains have been identified with different combinations of these chains resulting in 14 laminin heterotrimers thus far identified (1, 3-5).
In this study, using immunohistochemistry with chain-specific antibodies, we characterized the expression of the alpha1 (Lns-1/3), alpha3 (Lns 5,6,7), and alpha5 (Lns 10/11) chains in fetal, newborn, infant, prepubertal, and adult benign and malignant prostate glands.
In general, alpha1 expression was higher in normal fetal prostate glands and declined by full-term birth, whereas the alpha3 and alpha5 chains remained highly expressed in the adult normal glands. In carcinoma alpha1 (Lns 1/3) and alpha5 (Lns 5,6,7) are lost, whereas alpha5 (Lns 10/11) persists.
Alpha 1 (Lns 1/3) is prominent in BM, but is replaced by a laminin matrix rich in alpha3 (Lns 5,6,7) and alpha5 (Lns 10/11) in benign adult prostate glands. In carcinoma, both alpha1 (Lns-1/3) and alpha3 (Lns 5,6,7) are not expressed with persistence of a BM rich in alpha5 (Lns 10/11).
层粘连蛋白（Lns）是一类位于上皮细胞基底膜（BM）的细胞外基质糖蛋白。它们以由α、β和γ链组成的异源三聚体形式存在。目前，已鉴定出5种α链（α1 - 5）、3种β链（β1 - 3）和3种γ链（γ1 - 3），这些链的不同组合产生了迄今为止已鉴定出的14种层粘连蛋白异源三聚体（1, 3 - 5）。
在本研究中，我们使用链特异性抗体进行免疫组织化学，对胎儿、新生儿、婴儿、青春期前及成年良性和恶性前列腺组织中α1链（Lns - 1/3）、α3链（Lns 5、6、7）和α5链（Lns 10/11）的表达进行了表征。
总体而言，α1链在正常胎儿前列腺组织中表达较高，在足月出生时下降，而α3链和α5链在成年正常前列腺组织中仍高表达。在癌组织中，α1链（Lns 1/3）和α5链（Lns 5、6、7）缺失，而α5链（Lns 10/11）持续存在。
α1链（Lns 1/3）在基底膜中突出，但在成年良性前列腺组织中被富含α3链（Lns 5、6、7）和α5链（Lns 10/11）的层粘连蛋白基质所取代。在癌组织中，α1链（Lns - 1/3）和α3链（Lns 5、6、7）均不表达，而富含α5链（Lns 10/11）的基底膜持续存在。
