Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, The University of Louisville, Louisville, KY, 40202, USA.
Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital Detroit, Detroit, MI, 48202, USA.
Diagn Pathol. 2021 Oct 27;16(1):98. doi: 10.1186/s13000-021-01158-4.
Aurora-A kinase is important for cellular proliferation and is implicated in the tumorigenesis of several malignancies, including of the ovary. Information regarding the expression patterns of Aurora-A in normal Müllerian epithelium as well as benign, borderline and malignant epithelial ovarian neoplasms is limited.
We investigated Aurora-A expression by immunohistochemistry in 15 benign, 19 borderline and 17 malignant ovarian serous tumors, and 16 benign, 8 borderline, and 2 malignant ovarian mucinous tumors. Twelve fimbriae from seven patients served as normal Müllerian epithelium controls. We also examined Aurora-A protein expression by western blot in normal fimbriae and tumor specimens.
All normal fimbriae (n = 12) showed nuclear but not cytoplasmic Aurora-A immunoreactivity by immunohistochemistry. Benign ovarian tumors also showed strong nuclear Aurora-A immunoreactivity. Forty-eight percent (13/27) of borderline tumors demonstrated nuclear Aurora-A immunoreactivity, while the remainder (52%, 14/27) lacked Aurora-A staining. Nuclear Aurora-A immunoreactivity was absent in all malignant serous tumors, however, 47% (8/17) demonstrated perinuclear cytoplasmic staining. These results were statistically significant when tumor class (benign/borderline/malignant) was compared to immunoreactivity localization or intensity (Fisher Exact Test, p < 0.01). Western blot analysis confirmed the greater nuclear Aurora-A expression in control Müllerian epithelium compared to borderline and malignant tumors.
Aurora-A kinase is differentially expressed across normal Müllerian epithelium, benign and borderline serous and mucinous ovarian epithelial neoplasms and malignant serous ovarian tumors., with nuclear expression of unphosphorylated Aurora-A being present in normal and benign neoplastic epithelium, and lost in malignant serous neoplasms. Further studies of the possible biological and clinical implications of the loss of nuclear Aurora-A expression in ovarian tumors, and its role in ovarian carcinogenesis are warranted.
极光激酶 A 对细胞增殖很重要，并且与包括卵巢癌在内的几种恶性肿瘤的肿瘤发生有关。关于极光激酶 A 在正常 Müllerian 上皮以及良性、交界性和恶性上皮性卵巢肿瘤中的表达模式的信息有限。
我们通过免疫组织化学方法研究了 15 例良性、19 例交界性和 17 例恶性卵巢浆液性肿瘤以及 16 例良性、8 例交界性和 2 例恶性卵巢黏液性肿瘤中 Aurora-A 的表达。7 名患者的 12 个输卵管伞作为正常 Müllerian 上皮对照。我们还通过 Western blot 检测了正常输卵管伞和肿瘤标本中的 Aurora-A 蛋白表达。
所有正常输卵管伞（n=12）的免疫组织化学均显示核而非细胞质 Aurora-A 免疫反应性。良性卵巢肿瘤也显示出强烈的核 Aurora-A 免疫反应性。48%（13/27）的交界性肿瘤显示核 Aurora-A 免疫反应性，而其余 52%（14/27）缺乏 Aurora-A 染色。所有恶性浆液性肿瘤均未见核 Aurora-A 免疫反应性，但 47%（8/17）显示核周细胞质染色。当肿瘤类型（良性/交界性/恶性）与免疫反应定位或强度进行比较时，这些结果具有统计学意义（Fisher 精确检验，p<0.01）。Western blot 分析证实，与交界性和恶性肿瘤相比，对照组 Müllerian 上皮中 Aurora-A 的核表达更高。
极光激酶 A 在正常 Müllerian 上皮、良性和交界性浆液性和黏液性卵巢上皮性肿瘤以及恶性浆液性卵巢肿瘤中表达不同，未磷酸化的 Aurora-A 的核表达存在于正常和良性肿瘤性上皮中，而在恶性浆液性肿瘤中丢失。进一步研究卵巢肿瘤中核 Aurora-A 表达缺失的可能生物学和临床意义及其在卵巢癌发生中的作用是必要的。
