Lehnigk U, Zimmermann U, Woenckhaus C, Giebel J
Institute of Anatomy, Ernst Moritz Arndt University, Friedrich-Loeffler-Strasse 23c, D-17489 Greifswald, Germany.
Histol Histopathol. 2005 Jul;20(3):673-80. doi: 10.14670/HH-20.673.
Annexins (ANXs) represent a family of calcium and phospholipid binding proteins that are involved in several physiological processes e.g. signal transduction, cellular differentiation and proliferation. Since they are known to be dysregulated in a variety of cancers we investigated the immunolocalization of ANXs in whole prostate sections containing benign prostatic epithelium (BPE), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN) and prostate cancer (PCa) in order to evaluate their possible role during tumorigenesis. Samples were obtained from 28 patients undergoing radical prostatectomy. Gross sections of whole prostates were examined immunohistochemically for the distribution of ANX I, II, IV and VII. In BPE all ANXs were localized to the cell membranes and the cytoplasm of all gland cells. In BPH the immunoreactivity of ANX I and II was restricted to the basal cells of glands and expression pattern of ANX IV and VII was similar to BPE. In PIN only basal cells expressed ANX II. In PCa ANX II immunoreactivity was absent and weak ANX I and ANX IV immunoreactivity was restricted to the cytoplasm of tumor cells. ANX VII immunoreactivity was seen in some but not all tumor cells. Since ANX IV and VII expression did not show significant changes in PCa compared to non-neoplastic tissue and PIN an essential role during prostate tumourigenesis seems unlikely. In contrast, as progression from PIN to PCa is characterized by a reduction of ANX I and II this suggests that downregulation of these proteins could represent an important event in prostate carcinogenesis.
膜联蛋白（ANXs）是一类钙和磷脂结合蛋白家族，参与多种生理过程，如信号转导、细胞分化和增殖。由于已知它们在多种癌症中表达失调，我们研究了ANXs在包含良性前列腺上皮（BPE）、良性前列腺增生（BPH）、前列腺上皮内瘤变（PIN）和前列腺癌（PCa）的整个前列腺切片中的免疫定位，以评估它们在肿瘤发生过程中的可能作用。样本取自28例行根治性前列腺切除术的患者。对整个前列腺的大体切片进行免疫组织化学检查，以观察ANX I、II、IV和VII的分布。在BPE中，所有ANXs均定位于所有腺细胞的细胞膜和细胞质。在BPH中，ANX I和II的免疫反应性仅限于腺泡的基底细胞，ANX IV和VII的表达模式与BPE相似。在PIN中，仅基底细胞表达ANX II。在PCa中，不存在ANX II免疫反应性，微弱的ANX I和ANX IV免疫反应性仅限于肿瘤细胞的细胞质。在部分但并非所有肿瘤细胞中可见ANX VII免疫反应性。由于与非肿瘤组织和PIN相比，PCa中ANX IV和VII的表达未显示出显著变化，因此它们在前列腺肿瘤发生过程中似乎不太可能起关键作用。相反，由于从PIN进展到PCa的特征是ANX I和II减少，这表明这些蛋白的下调可能是前列腺癌发生中的一个重要事件。
