[Apoptosis and expression of bcl-2 protein in invasive ductal adenocarcinoma of the pancreas].
Apoptosis plays a central role in the development and/or progression of cancer. There are several methods for detection of apoptotic cells in tissue sections including light and electron microscopy, in situ nick end-labeling (ISEL), TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) and immunohistochemical detection of proteins associated with apoptosis. Apoptosis was assessed by the monoclonal antibody M30 CytoDEATH (M30), which is specific for neo-epitope in cytokeratin 18 that becomes available at an early caspase cleavage during apoptosis. Expression of bcl-2 protein was evaluated, because bcl-2 protein plays an important role in the regulation of apoptosis. Twenty-six invasive ductal adenocarcinomas of the pancreas were studied immunohistochemically with antibodies M30 and bcl-2. The mean apoptotic index (AI, the percentage of apoptotic cells of the total tumor cells number) was 2.75%. High AI (> 10%) was observed in 4 cases of the 26 pancreatic carcinomas (15%). Protein bcl-2 was expressed in 3 cases (11.5%). The AI did not correlate with the expression of protein bcl-2. In conclusion, the detection of neo-epitope in cytokeratin 18 by monoclonal antibody M30 can be used for quantification of apoptotic cells with immunohistochemical techniques in tissue sections. It is a new approach to evaluate apoptosis in pancreatic carcinomas. The low positivity of bcl-2 expression in pancreatic adenocarcinomas suggests that bcl-2 protein does not play a central role in pancreatic tumorigenesis and cancer progression.
Brázdil
J
J
Patologicko-anatomický ústav FN, Brno. brazdil.jan@post.cz
Lukás
Z
Z
Hermanová
M
M
Pazourková
M
M
Růzicka
M
M
Habanec
B
B
Kren
L
L
Dítĕ
P
P
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017209:Apoptosis; D021441:Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010190:Pancreatic Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology*; D011379:Prognosis; D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2 / Q000032:analysis*
D019253:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; D007633:Keratins