First Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Maistrasse 11, D-80337 Munich, Germany.
Int J Mol Med. 2011 Mar;27(3):309-18. doi: 10.3892/ijmm.2010.586. Epub 2010 Dec 21.
Inhibins/activins are secreted polypeptides of the transforming growth factor-β superfamily, forming a family of dimeric, disulphide-linked proteins. Inhibins are composed of an α-subunit and one of two possible β-subunits. Both inhibins and activins have substantial roles in human reproduction and in endocrine-responsive tumors. However, the prognostic significance and clinical implications of the inhibin-α subunits in uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas is still not clearly defined. A series of 231 uterine endometrioid adenocarcinomas of a previous well-characterized cohort were re-evaluated for the expression of the inhibin-α subunit and correlated with several clinicopathological characteristics and clinical outcome. Additionally, several endometrial epithelial cell lines (Ishikawa plus and minus, HEC-1A, HEC-1B and RL95-2) were analyzed for the expression of this subunit using immunohistochemical and molecular biological techniques. A significant association between the inhibin-α subunit and histological grade, surgical staging and myometrial invasion was demonstrated. Survival analysis demonstrated that inhibin-α immunoreactivity significantly affected progression-free, cause-specific and overall survival of patients with endometrioid adenocarcinomas. The analyzed endometrial cancer cell lines can also synthesize this subunit. Inhibin-α seems to have a substantial role in the carcinogenesis and pathology of uterine endometrioid carcinomas, and might be used as a marker to identify high-risk patients and may aid in the selection of patients for a more aggressive adjuvant therapy. Since uterine cancer cell lines express the inhibin-α subunit, they constitute adequate in vitro models for assessing its function in endometrial carcinogenesis. However, further research is warranted to elucidate the possible implications of inhibin-α in endometrial carcinogenesis.
抑制素/激活素是转化生长因子-β 超家族分泌的多肽，形成二聚体、二硫键连接的蛋白质家族。抑制素由一个α亚基和两个β亚基之一组成。抑制素和激活素在人类生殖和内分泌反应性肿瘤中都有重要作用。然而，抑制素-α亚基在子宫内膜样腺癌中的预后意义和临床意义尚不清楚。对以前特征明确的 231 例子宫子宫内膜样腺癌进行了重新评估，检测抑制素-α亚基的表达，并与几个临床病理特征和临床结果相关。此外，还使用免疫组织化学和分子生物学技术分析了几种子宫内膜上皮细胞系（Ishikawa 加减、HEC-1A、HEC-1B 和 RL95-2）对该亚基的表达。抑制素-α亚基与组织学分级、手术分期和肌层浸润之间存在显著相关性。生存分析表明，抑制素-α免疫反应性显著影响子宫内膜样腺癌患者的无进展、病因特异性和总生存率。分析的子宫内膜癌细胞系也可以合成该亚基。抑制素-α似乎在子宫子宫内膜样腺癌的发生和病理中起着重要作用，可作为识别高危患者的标志物，并可能有助于为更积极的辅助治疗选择患者。由于子宫癌细胞系表达抑制素-α亚基，它们构成了评估其在子宫内膜癌发生中的功能的合适体外模型。然而，需要进一步的研究来阐明抑制素-α在子宫内膜癌发生中的可能意义。
