Fararjeh Abdulfattah, Kaddumi Ezidin, Al-Khader Ali, Aburayyan Walid
Departament of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Science, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt, Jordan.
Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Al-Balqa Applied University, Al-Salt, Jordan.
Pol J Pathol. 2022;73(3):215-222. doi: 10.5114/pjp.2022.124489.
StAR-related lipid transfer domain containing proteins (STARD3) are a group of proteins that contain a steroidogenic acute regulatory protein-related lipid transfer domain. Breast cancer (BC) has been linked to the STARD3 gene. In this study, we sought to confirm the relationship of STARD3 protein expression with clinicopathological characteristics and BC molecular subtypes. Using tissue microarray, we examined the STARD3 protein expression in 200 BC tissues and 20 normal breast tissues. Higher protein expression of STARD3 was found in tumor tissues than normal tissues. One hundred and fifty-two (69.1%) of the 200 cases tested positive for STARD3 (high H-score), while seventy (30.9%) had a low STARD3 H-score. When STARD3 is present, its expression ranges from mild to strong. STARD3 H-score was strongly linked to human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive (p < 0.001) and estrogen receptor (ER)-positive (p < 0.009) patients, but not to triple-negative BC patients. STARD3 high H-score was associated with histological grade and tumor size. No significant associations were found with stage of the disease, pathological stage or node status. Our research revealed that STARD3 levels were higher in tissues from malignant BC, and it was associated with HER2 and ER, suggesting that it might be utilized as a marker for BC.
含类固醇生成急性调节蛋白相关脂质转运结构域的蛋白（STARD3）是一类包含类固醇生成急性调节蛋白相关脂质转运结构域的蛋白质。乳腺癌（BC）与STARD3基因有关。在本研究中，我们试图证实STARD3蛋白表达与临床病理特征及BC分子亚型之间的关系。我们使用组织芯片检测了200例BC组织和20例正常乳腺组织中STARD3蛋白的表达。发现肿瘤组织中STARD3蛋白表达高于正常组织。在200例检测病例中，152例（69.1%）STARD3检测呈阳性（高H评分），而70例（30.9%）STARD3 H评分较低。当存在STARD3时，其表达范围从轻度到重度。STARD3 H评分与人类表皮生长因子受体2（HER2）阳性（p < 0.001）和雌激素受体（ER）阳性（p < 0.009）患者密切相关，但与三阴性BC患者无关。STARD3高H评分与组织学分级和肿瘤大小相关。未发现与疾病分期、病理分期或淋巴结状态有显著关联。我们的研究表明，恶性BC组织中STARD3水平较高，且与HER2和ER相关，提示它可能用作BC的一个标志物。
