title: Expression of enolases in B cell tumors.
abstract: Frozen lymph node biopsy specimens from 38 patients with B cell tumors, including 5 with childhood non-T-ALL and 3 with reactive lymphadenitis, were investigated using a direct immunohistochemical method to detect alpha-, beta- and gamma-enolases. alpha-Enolase-positive cells were not observed in reactive lymphadenitis. On the contrary, almost all the lymphocytes including germinal center cells were positive for beta-enolase. Small lymphocytes in the mantle zones were negative, centrocytes were negative or weakly positive, the majority of centroblasts were strongly positive and the remaining were weakly positive for gamma-enolase. In all 5 patients with childhood non-T-ALL, leukemic lymphocytes were strongly positive only for alpha-enolase. In all 33 patients with B cell lymphoma, lymphoma cells were positive for beta-enolase. In many patients with follicular lymphoma, lymphoma cells were positive only for beta-enolase. Four of five patients with malignant lymphoma, diffuse, small cleaved cell, showed the reactivity of alpha-, beta+, gamma+-enolases in lymphoma cells. Our results suggest the possibility of the two isoenzyme switches from alpha- to beta-enolase and from alpha- to gamma-enolase in the B lymphocyte lineage accompanying differentiation, similar to those of skeletal muscles and neurons.
authors.affiliation: Section of Clinical Laboratory, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Oka
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Haimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kato
mesh_terms: D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000201:enzymology; D002051:Burkitt Lymphoma / Q000201:enzymology*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008199:Lymphadenitis / Q000201:enzymology; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000201:enzymology*; D008224:Lymphoma, Follicular / Q000201:enzymology; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000032:analysis*; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase