Savin S, Cvejić D, Janković M, Isić T, Paunović I, Tatić S
Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy-INEP, University of Belgrade, Banatska 31b, 11080 Zemun-Belgrade, Serbia.
Med Oncol. 2009;26(3):314-8. doi: 10.1007/s12032-008-9122-7. Epub 2008 Nov 14.
The expression of galectin-8 (gal-8) has been shown to be altered during neoplastic transformation of certain cell types. This is the first study aimed to analyze the expression of this protein in normal and pathological human thyroid tissue. A total of 41 archival thyroid tissue samples (5 follicular adenomas, 31 papillary carcinomas, 5 follicular carcinomas) together with 36 adjacent hyperplastic or normal thyroid tissues were analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Galectin-8 was expressed in the majority of papillary carcinomas (27/31; 87%). Positive but weaker staining was also found in some of the follicular thyroid carcinomas (2/5; 40%) and adenomas (2/5; 40%). This protein was not detectable in five normal thyroid tissue samples, whereas hyperplastic areas adjacent to tumor were weakly positive in 9 out of 31 cases (29%). High gal-8 immunostaining in papillary thyroid carcinoma indicates that gal-8 may potentially serve as a marker of papillary thyroid carcinoma. However, it does not seem to be helpful in the differential diagnostics of follicular carcinoma and adenoma. Further studies are required to determine biological functions and molecular mechanisms underlying the increased expression of gal-8 protein in thyroid lesions, particularly, in papillary thyroid carcinoma.
半乳糖凝集素-8（gal-8）的表达已被证明在某些细胞类型的肿瘤转化过程中会发生改变。这是第一项旨在分析该蛋白在正常和病理性人类甲状腺组织中表达情况的研究。通过免疫组织化学分析了总共41份存档甲状腺组织样本（5例滤泡性腺瘤、31例乳头状癌、5例滤泡状癌）以及36份相邻的增生性或正常甲状腺组织。半乳糖凝集素-8在大多数乳头状癌中表达（27/31；87%）。在一些滤泡状甲状腺癌（2/5；40%）和腺瘤（2/5；40%）中也发现了阳性但较弱的染色。在5份正常甲状腺组织样本中未检测到该蛋白，而在31例中有9例（29%）肿瘤相邻的增生区域呈弱阳性。甲状腺乳头状癌中高半乳糖凝集素-8免疫染色表明半乳糖凝集素-8可能潜在地作为甲状腺乳头状癌的标志物。然而，它似乎对滤泡状癌和腺瘤的鉴别诊断没有帮助。需要进一步研究以确定甲状腺病变，特别是甲状腺乳头状癌中半乳糖凝集素-8蛋白表达增加的生物学功能和分子机制。
