title: Immunohistochemical analysis of cleaved caspase-3 detects high level of apoptosis frequently in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas of the central nervous system.
abstract: The purpose of the present paper was to examine the level of apoptosis and the relationships among apoptosis, apoptosis-associated proteins, and proliferating potential in lymphoma tissues to clarify the characteristics of apoptosis in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) of the central nervous system (CNS). The formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues of CNS and non-CNS DLBCL (20 cases each) were studied by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP-nick end labeling (TUNEL) and immunohistochemistry, using antibodies against single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), cleaved caspase-3, bcl-2, bax, p53, Fas and Ki-67. The cleaved caspase-3 immunohistochemistry detected apoptosis of the lymphoma cells most sensitively compared to TUNEL and ssDNA immunohistochemistry. High expression (grade + + or + + +) of cleaved caspase-3 was found more frequently in CNS DLBCL (11 cases, 55%) than non-CNS DLBCL (three cases, 15%; P = 0.009). Bax-positivity of lymphoma cells was increased in six cases of CNS DLBCL, which also showed high positivity of cleaved caspase-3. There was no significant correlation between the cleaved caspase-3-positivity and the Ki-67 positivity. The present study indicates that the number of apoptotic cells and expression level of cleaved caspase-3 were significantly higher in CNS DLBCL than non-CNS DLBCL, and that the correlation of bax and cleaved caspase-3 expression was often present in CNS DLBCL.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Pathology, Gunma University Graduate School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan.
authors.forename: Momoko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arai
authors.forename: Atsushi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sasaki
authors.forename: Nobuhito
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Yoichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakazato
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017209:Apoptosis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism; D001932:Brain Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases / Q000378:metabolism*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D018572:Disease-Free Survival; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D020287:In Situ Nick-End Labeling; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen / Q000378:metabolism; D016393:Lymphoma, B-Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D016403:Lymphoma, Large B-Cell, Diffuse / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; C505407:CASP3 protein, human; D053148:Caspase 3; D020169:Caspases