Inserm U889, Université Bordeaux 2, Bordeaux, France.
Liver Int. 2011 Mar;31(3):322-8. doi: 10.1111/j.1478-3231.2010.02438.x. Epub 2011 Jan 21.
The anterior gradient protein-2 (AGR2) is overexpressed in numerous tumours such as breast, prostate or pancreas carcinomas and recently reported in fibrolamellar hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
In the present study, we further describe AGR2 expression patterns all along the adult and fetal biliary tree and in cholangiocarcinomas.
Immunohistochemistry using anti-AGR2 antibodies was performed in adult and fetal livers, gallbladders as well as cholangiocarcinomas and HCCs.
In adult and fetal liver, the tall epithelial cells covering the large bile ducts as well as gallbladder epithelial cells showed strong AGR2 staining. Hilar and extrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, and a subset of intrahepatic cholangiocarcinomas, which displayed a morphological mucus-excreting feature, also displayed AGR2 expression. In contrast, AGR2 expression was not detected in typical HCCs.
Our study shows that the differential expression of AGR2 is a phenotypic feature of the cholangiocytes covering different segments of the biliary tree. This pattern of expression is conserved during fetal and adult life, as well as during biliary carcinogenesis.
前梯度蛋白 2（AGR2）在许多肿瘤中过表达，如乳腺癌、前列腺癌或胰腺癌，最近在纤维板层肝细胞癌（HCC）中也有报道。
本研究进一步描述了 AGR2 在成人和胎儿胆管系统以及胆管癌中的表达模式。
使用抗 AGR2 抗体进行免疫组织化学染色，用于检测成人和胎儿肝脏、胆囊以及胆管癌和 HCC。
在成人和胎儿肝脏中，覆盖大胆管的高柱状上皮细胞以及胆囊上皮细胞均显示出强烈的 AGR2 染色。肝门部和肝外胆管癌以及部分肝内胆管癌显示出分泌黏液的形态学特征，也显示出 AGR2 的表达。相比之下，典型的 HCC 中未检测到 AGR2 表达。
本研究表明，AGR2 的差异表达是覆盖胆管树不同节段的胆管细胞的表型特征。这种表达模式在胎儿和成人期以及胆管癌发生过程中均保持不变。
