Wehrli B M, Krajewski S, Gascoyne R D, Reed J C, Gilks C B
Department of Pathology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.
Int J Gynecol Pathol. 1998 Jul;17(3):255-60. doi: 10.1097/00004347-199807000-00010.
Cell survival may be enhanced in tumors by the inhibition of apoptosis, which allows tumor promotors to exert their effects. The bcl-2 related genes have been shown to contribute to either the inhibition or induction of apoptosis in a variety of neoplasms; therefore, it was hypothesized that the expression of these genes might contribute to malignant transformation in ovarian surface epithelial tumors. The expression of bcl-2 family proteins was investigated in 28 ovarian surface epithelial tumors, including serous and mucinous benign, borderline, and malignant tumors by immunohistochemical staining with antibodies to bcl-2, bax, bcl-X, and mcl-1 proteins. Staining intensity was scored on a 1+ to 3+ scale and the benign, borderline, and malignant tumors were compared. Significantly less immunoreactive bcl-2 and bcl-X proteins were present in malignant serous tumors compared to their benign counterparts. No difference was seen in immunostaining for bax or mcl-1 when benign, borderline, or malignant serous tumors were compared. In the mucinous tumors, no differences were seen in immunostaining for any of the bcl-2 family proteins between tumor types. The loss of expression of the antiapoptotic proto-oncogenes bcl-2 or bcl-X in serous carcinomas compared to benign serous tumors, together with previous demonstrations that the presence of bcl-2 in ovarian surface epithelial cancers is a favorable prognostic indicator, suggests that bcl-2 and bcl-X have biological functions in the ovary other than inducing apoptosis, acting instead as tumor suppressor proteins.
肿瘤细胞的存活可通过抑制凋亡来增强，这使得肿瘤促进因子能够发挥其作用。已表明bcl-2相关基因在多种肿瘤中对凋亡的抑制或诱导起作用；因此，有人推测这些基因的表达可能与卵巢表面上皮肿瘤的恶性转化有关。通过用抗bcl-2、bax、bcl-X和mcl-1蛋白的抗体进行免疫组织化学染色，研究了28例卵巢表面上皮肿瘤中bcl-2家族蛋白的表达，这些肿瘤包括浆液性和黏液性良性、交界性和恶性肿瘤。染色强度按1+至3+评分，并对良性、交界性和恶性肿瘤进行比较。与良性浆液性肿瘤相比，恶性浆液性肿瘤中免疫反应性bcl-2和bcl-X蛋白明显较少。比较良性、交界性或恶性浆液性肿瘤时，bax或mcl-1的免疫染色未见差异。在黏液性肿瘤中，不同肿瘤类型之间bcl-2家族蛋白的免疫染色均未见差异。与良性浆液性肿瘤相比，浆液性癌中抗凋亡原癌基因bcl-2或bcl-X的表达缺失，以及先前的研究表明卵巢表面上皮癌中bcl-2的存在是一个良好的预后指标，这表明bcl-2和bcl-X在卵巢中除了诱导凋亡外还具有其他生物学功能，而是作为肿瘤抑制蛋白发挥作用。
