Pammer J, Weninger W, Mazal P R, Horvat R, Tschachler E
Institute of Clinical Pathology, University of Vienna, Austria.
Histopathology. 1996 Dec;29(6):517-24. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2559.1996.d01-531.x.
CD40, a member of the nerve growth factor/tumour necrosis factor-receptor family, is expressed on endothelial cells in situ and in tissue culture. It is functionally involved in the regulation of the expression of adhesion molecules in these cells. In the current study we investigated the expression of CD40 on the endothelia of normal fetal and adult human tissues, as well as in the stroma of various neoplasms and in different inflammatory tissue reactions. By immunohistochemistry, endothelia were negative or only weakly positive for CD40 in all normal adult and most fetal organs studied. In contrast, endothelial cells of fetal and embryonic lungs, kidneys and larger vessels consistently expressed the CD40 antigen. Strong expression of CD40 on endothelial cells of blood vessels but not of lymphatic vessels was found in inflammatory reactions. In 65 tumours of vascular origin we found moderate to strong expression of CD40 in all of four juvenile proliferating capillary haemangiomas and 11 lobular capillary haemangiomas of adults. Senile and cavernous haemangiomas as well as lymphangiomas were negative or exhibited only weak CD40 reactivity. Weak to moderate CD40 expression was found in five of eight malignant neoplasms of endothelial origin. Our finding that the CD40 antigen is present on only a minority of normal endothelial cells, whereas strong staining can be detected on the majority of endothelial cells in inflammatory processes, complements previous reports which suggest that this surface receptor plays an important role in tissue inflammation. The heterogeneous pattern of expression in malignant endothelial neoplasms argues against a major role for CD40 in the pathogenesis of these tumours. Its consistent presence in juvenile and lobular capillary haemangiomas suggests rather the involvement of CD40 in the development and/or progression of these benign vascular proliferations.
CD40是神经生长因子/肿瘤坏死因子受体家族的成员之一，在原位内皮细胞和组织培养中均有表达。它在功能上参与调控这些细胞中黏附分子的表达。在本研究中，我们调查了CD40在正常胎儿和成人组织内皮细胞上的表达情况，以及在各种肿瘤基质和不同炎症组织反应中的表达情况。通过免疫组织化学方法，在所研究的所有正常成人及大多数胎儿器官中，内皮细胞对CD40呈阴性或仅弱阳性。相比之下，胎儿和胚胎的肺、肾以及较大血管的内皮细胞持续表达CD40抗原。在炎症反应中，发现血管内皮细胞而非淋巴管内皮细胞强烈表达CD40。在65例血管源性肿瘤中，我们发现所有4例青少年增殖性毛细血管瘤和11例成人小叶性毛细血管瘤均有中度至强的CD40表达。老年性血管瘤、海绵状血管瘤以及淋巴管瘤呈阴性或仅表现出微弱的CD40反应性。在8例内皮源性恶性肿瘤中有5例发现有弱至中度的CD40表达。我们的研究发现，CD40抗原仅存在于少数正常内皮细胞上，而在炎症过程中大多数内皮细胞可检测到强染色，这补充了之前的报道，即该表面受体在组织炎症中起重要作用。恶性内皮肿瘤中表达的异质性模式表明CD40在这些肿瘤的发病机制中不发挥主要作用。它在青少年和小叶性毛细血管瘤中持续存在，这表明CD40参与了这些良性血管增殖的发生和/或进展。
