Hillen Lisa M, Rennspiess Dorit, Speel Ernst-Jan, Haugg Anke M, Winnepenninckx Véronique, Zur Hausen Axel
Department of Pathology and GROW-School for Oncology and Developmental Biology, Maastricht University Medical Center, Maastricht, Netherlands.
Department of Gynaecology, University Hospital RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany.
Front Microbiol. 2018 Jan 9;8:2648. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.02648. eCollection 2017.
Seborrheic keratosis (SK) is the most common benign cutaneous neoplasm. A subset shows increased p16 expression. Since SK shares several features with verruca vulgaris, e.g., increased p16 expression, human papillomaviruses (HPV) have been suggested as possible causal agents. However, a relevant association could not be established between HPV and SK. In the present study we aimed to investigate the presence of Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPyV) in relation to p16 expression in SK. P16 expression was investigated using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Presence of MCPyV was assessed in 23 formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of SK by molecular techniques (i.e., PCR and FISH) and IHC. 16/23 SK showed strong to moderate p16 expression. 6/23 of SK were MCPyV positive by PCR which was confirmed by FISH. Of interest, two samples with strong FISH signals also showed MCPyV expression as tested by IHC. Samples with weaker signal intensity were negative in IHC. P16 expression was not associated with the presence of MCPyV. Concluding, the detection of MCPyV DNA by PCR and FISH in SK reflects the widespread prevalence of MCPyV in the skin. However, low detection rates exclude MCPyV as a major pathogenic factor in SK, most likely representing a coincidental infection. P16 IHC does not appear as useful adjunctive surrogate marker for the presence of MCPyV in SK.
脂溢性角化病（SK）是最常见的皮肤良性肿瘤。一部分病例显示p16表达增加。由于SK与寻常疣有若干共同特征，例如p16表达增加，因此有人提出人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）可能是致病因素。然而，HPV与SK之间并未建立起相关联系。在本研究中，我们旨在调查默克尔细胞多瘤病毒（MCPyV）与SK中p16表达的关系。采用免疫组织化学（IHC）检测p16表达。通过分子技术（即聚合酶链反应（PCR）和荧光原位杂交（FISH））及IHC评估23例SK福尔马林固定石蜡包埋组织样本中MCPyV的存在情况。23例SK中有16例显示p16呈强至中度表达。23例SK中有6例PCR检测MCPyV呈阳性，FISH予以证实。有趣的是，2例FISH信号强的样本IHC检测也显示MCPyV表达。信号强度较弱的样本IHC检测为阴性。p16表达与MCPyV的存在无关。综上所述，通过PCR和FISH在SK中检测到MCPyV DNA反映了MCPyV在皮肤中的广泛流行。然而，低检出率排除了MCPyV作为SK主要致病因素的可能性，很可能是一种巧合感染。p16 IHC似乎并非SK中MCPyV存在的有用辅助替代标志物。
