Systemic expression of a newly recognized protein, LECT2, in the human body.

LECT2 (leukocyte cell-derived chemotaxin 2) is a new, recently isolated protein shown to be synthesized by hepatocytes. All hepatocytes show diffuse immunostaining for LECT2 within the cytoplasm. In the present study an attempt was made to investigate the expression of LECT2 in normal and diseased human organs and tissues, other than the liver, using indirect immunoperoxidase staining. LECT2 was found to be generally expressed in vascular, endothelial and smooth muscle cells, adipocytes, cerebral nerve cells, apical squamous epithelia, parathyroid cells, sweat and sebaceous glandular epithelia, Hassall bodies and some mononuclear cells in immunohematopoietic tissue, although some of these cells and tissues were occasionally unstained in diseased conditions. Alternatively, this protein was generally negative, although it was occasionally positively stained in osteoblasts, chondrocytes, cardiac and skeletal muscle cells, smooth muscle cells of the gastrointestinal tract, and the epithelial cells of some tissues. LECT2 seems to be related to the cell cycle or repair process following damage to a variety of cells.