Nishio Yuko, Nakanishi Kuniaki, Ozeki Yuichi, Jiang Shi-Xu, Kameya Toru, Hebisawa Akira, Mukai Makio, Travis William D, Franks Teri J, Kawai Toshiaki
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Saitama, Japan.
Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2007 Jan;37(1):16-22. doi: 10.1093/jjco/hyl118. Epub 2006 Oct 23.
Telomeres are important for chromosome structure and function, protecting them against degradation. However, few studies have examined telomeres in pulmonary neuroendocrine (NE) tumors.
We investigated deparaffinized sections obtained from 70 primary NE lung tumors [34 typical carcinoids (TCs), 10 atypical carcinoids (ACs), 16 large cell neuroendocrine carcinoma (LCNECs) and 10 small cell lung carcinomas (SCLCs)].
Positive expressions of human telomerase mRNA component (hTERC) and human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA were recognized, respectively, in 58% and 74% of TCs, and in 100% and 100% of ACs, LCNECs and SCLCs. Alteration of telomere length was greater in both LCNECs and SCLCs than in TCs. Telomerase activity was detected in LCNECs, but not in TCs. By the reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), hTERC mRNA was detected in 100% of LCNECs and TCs examined, while hTERT mRNA was detected in 67% of LCNECs, but not at all in TCs.
These results suggest that alterations in telomere length, telomerase activity, and the expression of hTERT mRNA may (i) play roles in pathogenesis in pulmonary neuroendocrine tumors, and (ii) be a useful tool for differential diagnosis between TCs and LCNECs.
端粒对染色体结构和功能至关重要，可保护其免受降解。然而，很少有研究检测肺神经内分泌（NE）肿瘤中的端粒。
我们研究了从70例原发性肺NE肿瘤（34例典型类癌（TC）、10例非典型类癌（AC）、16例大细胞神经内分泌癌（LCNEC）和10例小细胞肺癌（SCLC））中获取的脱石蜡切片。
分别在58%的TC、100%的AC、LCNEC和SCLC中检测到人类端粒酶RNA组分（hTERC）和人类端粒酶逆转录酶（hTERT）mRNA的阳性表达。LCNEC和SCLC中端粒长度的改变均大于TC。在LCNEC中检测到端粒酶活性，而在TC中未检测到。通过逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR），在100%检测的LCNEC和TC中检测到hTERC mRNA，而在67%的LCNEC中检测到hTERT mRNA，在TC中则完全未检测到。
这些结果表明，端粒长度、端粒酶活性和hTERT mRNA表达的改变可能（i）在肺神经内分泌肿瘤的发病机制中起作用，以及（ii）成为TC和LCNEC鉴别诊断的有用工具。
