Akhtar Mohammed, Rashid Sameera, Gashir Mohamed Ben, Taha Noheir Mostafa, Al Bozom Issam
Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Adv Urol. 2020 Nov 4;2020:4920236. doi: 10.1155/2020/4920236. eCollection 2020.
Cytokeratins belong to the family of intermediate filaments. They are expressed in a highly specific manner in epithelial cells where they play a crucial role in the integrity and mechanical stability of the cells. Several types of cytokeratins have been described in normal as well as neoplastic urothelium. In the case of urothelial neoplasms expression of CK20 and CK5/6 has been shown in several studies to have diagnostic and prognostic implications. Thus, low-grade urothelial carcinoma manifests CK expression limited to the umbrella cells, while high-grade tumors usually have an expression in the entire thickness of the urothelium except for the basal layer. CK5/6 expression on the other hand is expressed in the basal cells in all low-grade and some high-grade urothelial carcinomas. Diffuse CK20 staining accompanied by loss of CK5/6-positive basal layer is usually associated with aggressive clinical behavior. Double staining of the slides for these cytokeratins may facilitate proper interpretation and correlation.
细胞角蛋白属于中间丝蛋白家族。它们在上皮细胞中以高度特异性的方式表达，在细胞的完整性和机械稳定性方面发挥着关键作用。在正常以及肿瘤性尿路上皮中已描述了几种类型的细胞角蛋白。在几项研究中已表明，对于尿路上皮肿瘤，细胞角蛋白20（CK20）和细胞角蛋白5/6（CK5/6）的表达具有诊断和预后意义。因此，低级别尿路上皮癌表现为CK表达仅限于伞细胞，而高级别肿瘤通常除基底层外，在尿路上皮的全层均有表达。另一方面，CK5/6表达见于所有低级别和部分高级别尿路上皮癌的基底细胞。弥漫性CK20染色伴CK5/6阳性基底层缺失通常与侵袭性临床行为相关。对这些细胞角蛋白进行玻片双重染色可能有助于正确解读和关联。
