Expression of alpha1,6-fucosyltransferase (FUT8) in papillary carcinoma of the thyroid: its linkage to biological aggressiveness and anaplastic transformation.
Previous studies have demonstrated that terminal fucosylation is associated with the biological aggressiveness of carcinomas, but the significance of core fucosylation (alpha1,6-fucosylation) through alpha1,6-fucosyltransferase (FUT8) has not been studied in depth. Herein, we investigated the expression of alpha1,6-fucosyltransferase (FUT8) in 133 cases of thyroid carcinomas using an immunohistochemical approach. The expression of FUT8 was quite low in normal follicules. A high expression of FUT8 was observed in 33.3% of papillary carcinoma and the incidence was directly linked to tumor size and lymph node metastasis. In contrast, this phenomenon was less frequently observed in follicular carcinoma and anaplastic (undifferentiated) carcinoma. These results suggest that FUT8 expression may be a key factor in the progression of thyroid papillary carcinomas, but not follicular carcinomas, and decreases in FUT8 expression might be linked to anaplastic transformation.
Department of Surgery, Kuma Hospital, 8-2-35, Shimoyamate-dori, Chuo-ku, Kobe 650-0011, Japan. ito01@kuma-h.or.jp
Yasuhiro
Y
Ito
Akira
A
Miyauchi
Hiroshi
H
Yoshida
Takashi
T
Uruno
Keiichi
K
Nakano
Yuuki
Y
Takamura
Akihiro
A
Miya
Kaoru
K
Kobayashi
Tamotsu
T
Yokozawa
Fumio
F
Matsuzuka
Naoyuki
N
Taniguchi
Nariaki
N
Matsuura
Kanji
K
Kuma
Eiji
E
Miyoshi
D002277:Carcinoma / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D002291:Carcinoma, Papillary / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D005647:Fucosyltransferases / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology
D005647:Fucosyltransferases; C031692:galactoside 3-fucosyltransferase