Ito N, Yokota M, Nagaike C, Morimura Y, Hatake K, Matsunaga T
Department of Legal Medicine, Nara Medical University, Japan.
Histol Histopathol. 1996 Jan;11(1):203-14.
Poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl structures carry a variety of physiologically and pathologically important carbohydrate antigens and are presumed to have essential roles in the process of cellular recognition, differentiation, malignant transformation and cancer metastasis. Monoclonal antibodies, lectins and endo-beta-galactosidase are useful histochemical tools for detecting and analyzing poly-N-acetyllactosamines in tissue sections. I (branched structure) and i (linear structure) antigens recognized by monoclonal antibodies have been shown to be differentiation antigens in mouse embryo and mouse and human teratocarcinoma cells as well as in human erythrocytes. They are also oncofoetal antigens and are expressed in carcinoma cells in several tissues and organs. Immobilized lectins specific to poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures have been successfully applied for fractioning glycoproteins with poly-N-acetyllactosamine, but histochemical use of these lectins has been restricted to some animal tissues. Among them, pokeweed mitogen agglutinin was used to detect branched poly-N-acetyllactosamine in normal and malignant human colon, demonstrating that it has a highly selective affinity for colorectal carcinomas. Griffonia simplicifolia agglutinin-II staining following endo-beta-galactosidase digestion procedure revealed the presence of poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures with or without blood group-specificities in several normal human tissues. By using this procedure, it was demonstrated that the blood group-related antigens oncofoetally expressed in thyroid carcinoma cells are carried by poly-N-acetyllactosamines containing a domain susceptible to the enzyme digestion. Staining with lectins specific to poly-N-acetyllactosamine in combination with endo-beta-galactosidase digestion demonstrated that poly-N-acetyllactosaminyl structures ubiquitously and consistently produced in thyroid papillary carcinomas are highly heterogeneous in their chain length and branching status and quite different from those produced in other thyroid neoplasms. Staining with monoclonal antibodies or lectins combined with endo-beta-galactosidase digestion procedures have been proven to be powerful tools for localizing and analyzing different types of poly-N-acetyllactosamine structures in normal and malignant tissues.
多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺结构携带多种生理和病理上重要的碳水化合物抗原，并被认为在细胞识别、分化、恶性转化和癌症转移过程中发挥着重要作用。单克隆抗体、凝集素和内切β-半乳糖苷酶是用于检测和分析组织切片中多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺的有用组织化学工具。单克隆抗体识别的I（分支结构）和i（线性结构）抗原已被证明是小鼠胚胎、小鼠和人畸胎瘤细胞以及人红细胞中的分化抗原。它们也是癌胚抗原，在多个组织和器官的癌细胞中表达。对多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺结构具有特异性的固定化凝集素已成功应用于分离含有多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺的糖蛋白，但这些凝集素的组织化学应用仅限于某些动物组织。其中，商陆有丝分裂原凝集素用于检测正常和恶性人结肠中的分支多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺，表明它对结直肠癌具有高度选择性亲和力。内切β-半乳糖苷酶消化程序后的西非豆凝集素-II染色揭示了几种正常人体组织中存在具有或不具有血型特异性的多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺结构。通过使用该程序，证明甲状腺癌细胞中癌胚表达的血型相关抗原由含有易受酶消化结构域的多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺携带。用对多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺具有特异性的凝集素结合内切β-半乳糖苷酶消化进行染色表明，甲状腺乳头状癌中普遍且持续产生的多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺结构在链长和分支状态上高度异质，与其他甲状腺肿瘤中产生的结构有很大不同。用单克隆抗体或凝集素结合内切β-半乳糖苷酶消化程序进行染色已被证明是在正常和恶性组织中定位和分析不同类型多聚-N-乙酰乳糖胺结构的有力工具。
