Florio Pasquale, Ciarmela Pasquapina, Reis Fernando M, Toti Paolo, Galleri Letizia, Santopietro Rosa, Tiso E, Tosi Piero, Petraglia Felice
Clinic of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Department of Paediatrics, University of Siena, 53 100 Siena, Italy.
Eur J Endocrinol. 2005 Feb;152(2):277-84. doi: 10.1530/eje.1.01849.
In the present study we evaluated the protein distribution and mRNA levels of inhibin alpha-subunit and its coreceptor betaglycan in endometrial adenocarcinoma.
Two groups of postmenopausal women were studied: the first group had recently diagnosed endometrial adenocarcinoma (n = 16; age range 61-79 years), and the second group (n = 12; age range 64-78 years) had undergone hysterectomy for uterine prolapse and served as control.
Inhibin alpha-subunit and betaglycan gene expression and tissue distribution were evaluated by semiquantitative RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry respectively.
Inhibin alpha-subunit and betaglycan mRNAs were expressed by both healthy and tumoral endometria, but their expression was significantly lower in endometrial carcinoma (P < 0.001, based on Student's t test). Inhibin alpha-subunit expression was much weaker in the glands of tumours than in non-neoplastic specimens. Betaglycan protein was identified in the epithelial cells lining non-tumoral endometrium, and in endothelial cells of both normal and tumoral endometria. Well-differentiated neoplastic cells had a faint and scarce betaglycan staining, and poorly differentiated cells did not express betaglycan at all.
The lower inhibin alpha and betaglycan expression in endometrial adenocarcinoma suggests that the inhibin action may be disrupted. However, the expression of betaglycan in the endothelia of the tumour vasculature suggests that a selective vascular response to inhibin may be possible in these tumours.
在本研究中，我们评估了抑制素α亚基及其共受体β聚糖在子宫内膜腺癌中的蛋白分布和mRNA水平。
对两组绝经后女性进行了研究：第一组为近期诊断为子宫内膜腺癌的患者（n = 16；年龄范围61 - 79岁），第二组（n = 12；年龄范围64 - 78岁）因子宫脱垂接受了子宫切除术，作为对照组。
分别通过半定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和免疫组织化学评估抑制素α亚基和β聚糖的基因表达及组织分布。
健康子宫内膜和肿瘤性子宫内膜均表达抑制素α亚基和β聚糖mRNA，但它们在子宫内膜癌中的表达显著降低（基于学生t检验，P < 0.001）。肿瘤腺体中抑制素α亚基的表达比非肿瘤标本中的弱得多。β聚糖蛋白在非肿瘤性子宫内膜的上皮细胞以及正常和肿瘤性子宫内膜的内皮细胞中均有发现。高分化肿瘤细胞的β聚糖染色微弱且稀少，低分化细胞则完全不表达β聚糖。
子宫内膜腺癌中抑制素α和β聚糖表达降低表明抑制素的作用可能受到破坏。然而，β聚糖在肿瘤血管内皮中的表达表明这些肿瘤可能对抑制素有选择性的血管反应。
