Expression of N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase V in the development of human esophageal cancers: immunohistochemical data from carcinomas and nearby noncancerous lesions.
OBJECTIVE
N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferase V (GnT-V) is a key enzyme in the formation of branching asparagine-linked oligosaccharides and is linked to tumor invasion and metastasis in colon and breast cancers. In normal esophageal epithelium, beta1,6-branched asparagine-linked oligosaccharides synthesized by GnT-V are seen in the basal cell layers but not in the superficial cell layers, and its presence has been shown in invasive esophageal cancers. However, neither GnT-V expression nor its clinical significance has been previously examined in human normal, premalignant and malignant esophageal tissues.


METHODS
GnT-V expression was studied by immunohistochemistry using a specific monoclonal antibody in 121 surgically resected specimens of esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) and adjacent tissues, and was analyzed statistically in relation to various characteristics.


RESULTS
GnT-V expression was observed in none (0%) of the 19 normal epithelial tissues, 1 (2%) of the 43 hyperplastic tissues, 30 (54%) of the 56 mildly dysplastic tissues, 27 (63%) of the 43 moderately dysplastic tissues, 21 (44%) of the 48 in situ SCCs and 29 (26%) of the 110 invasive SCCs (p<0.005). GnT-V expression was observed significantly more frequently in mildly and moderately dysplastic tissues when compared with normal epithelial and hyperplastic tissues (p<0.005), and its frequency was decreased in in situ and invasive SCCs (p<0.005). GnT-V expression was frequently observed in SCCs of small size and without distant metastasis or lymph node metastasis.


CONCLUSIONS
Increased expression of GnT-V is associated with the early event of esophageal tumorigenesis.
Ishibashi
Yoko
Y
Department of Medical Oncology, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
Dosaka-Akita
Hirotoshi
H
Miyoshi
Eiji
E
Shindoh
Masanobu
M
Miyamoto
Masaki
M
Kinoshita
Ichiro
I
Miyazaki
Hiroki
H
Itoh
Tomoo
T
Kondo
Satoshi
S
Nishimura
Masaharu
M
Taniguchi
Naoyuki
N
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001216:Asparagine / Q000378:metabolism; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004947:Esophagus / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D015971:Gene Expression Regulation, Enzymologic; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases / Q000032:analysis*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009844:Oligosaccharides / Q000378:metabolism; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D013194:Staining and Labeling; D016019:Survival Analysis; D015854:Up-Regulation
D019394:Ki-67 Antigen; D009844:Oligosaccharides; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; C100156:leukoagglutinins, plants; D001216:Asparagine; D017351:N-Acetylglucosaminyltransferases; C052254:alpha-1,6-mannosylglycoprotein beta 1,6-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase