title: Topographic distribution of bcl-2 protein in feline tissues in health and neoplasia.
abstract: The bcl-2 family of genes encodes proteins that influence apoptosis. In the present immunohistochemical study, the topographic distribution of bcl-2 protein was examined in healthy feline fetal, neonatal, and adult tissues, a feline renal cell line, and feline tumors obtained from a veterinary hospital. The topographic distribution of bcl-2 in healthy tissues was similar to that described in human tissues. In lymphoid tissues, follicular mantle cells strongly expressed bcl-2. In complex and differentiating epithelium, bcl-2 expression was detected in stem cell and proliferation zones. Bcl-2 expression was also detected in lower crypts of the intestine and in skin basal layers. The feline Crandell kidney cells expressed bcl-2 diffusely throughout the cytoplasm. Of 180 tumors examined, bcl-2 was expressed almost uniformly in cutaneous basal cell tumors, thyroid adenomas, and mammary carcinomas and in 50% of the lymphomas examined. Bcl-2 may play a role in blocking apoptotic cell death in a broad range of normal feline tissues, whereas dysregulated bcl-2 may extend the life of certain tumors or render certain tumors resistant to therapy because most chemotherapeutic and radiotherapeutic agents eliminate tumor cells by triggering apoptosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Veterinary Surgical and Radiological Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616, USA.
authors.forename: B R
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Madewell
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gandour-Edwards
authors.forename: B F
authors.initials: BF
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Walls
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Griffey
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D002415:Cats / Q000196:embryology; D002460:Cell Line; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D019254:Genes, bcl-2 / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011247:Pregnancy; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2