Expression of thrombospondin-1 is correlated with microvessel density in gastric carcinoma.
Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) has been shown to play a role in angiogenesis in a variety of cancers, but some studies indicated a difference in the mechanism of TSP-1 on neovascularization according to organ or histological type. Wild-type p53 protein has been shown to induce TSP-1 expression. We examined the expression of TSP-1 protein in 80 gastric carcinomas using immunohistochemistry and studied the relationship with microvessel counts, p53 expression and clinicopathological factors. We also performed reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis for the TSP-1 mRNA expression in gastric carcinoma cell lines and gastric cancer tissue after laser capture microdissection. Strong expression of TSP-1 protein was detected in 30 (38%) of the 80 cases. Positive staining for TSP-1 was seen in the cytoplasm of the cancer cells. TSP-1 mRNA expression was confirmed in a majority of gastric carcinoma cell lines and carcinoma tissues. Microvessel counts were significantly higher in tumors with strong TSP-1 protein expression than in those without expression or weak expression of TSP-1 ( P=0.011). No significant correlation was found between TSP-1 expression and p53 staining and clinicopathological factors. Our results support an idea that increased TSP-1 expression may be associated with an angiogenic phenotype in gastric carcinoma and suggest that TSP-1 may play diverse roles in each organ.
Department of Molecular Pathology, Hiroshima University Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, 734-8551, Hiroshima, Japan.
Jie
J
Zhang
Reiko
R
Ito
Naohide
N
Oue
Xudong
X
Zhu
Yasuhiko
Y
Kitadai
Kazuhiro
K
Yoshida
Hirofumi
H
Nakayama
Wataru
W
Yasui
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008833:Microcirculation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013274:Stomach Neoplasms / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D019700:Thrombospondin 1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D012334:RNA, Neoplasm; D019700:Thrombospondin 1; D016159:Tumor Suppressor Protein p53