title: Aberrant expression of E-cadherin and beta-catenin in association with transforming growth factor-beta1 in urinary bladder lesions in humans after the Chernobyl accident.
abstract: This study examines the molecular pathways of cell-cell communication in chronic inflammatory processes associated with long-term low-dose urinary bladder exposure to ionizing radiation in people without major disease living more than 19 years in radio-contaminated areas of Ukraine after the Chernobyl accident. Patterns of components of the E-cadherin/beta-catenin complex, and transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) expression were immunohistochemically evaluated in urinary bladder biopsies from 52 males with benign prostate hyperplasia and 8 females with chronic cystitis (group 1). For comparison, 25 males and 6 females living in non-contaminated areas of Ukraine were also investigated (group 2). Fourteen patients with primary urothelial carcinomas, which were operated on before the Chernobyl accident, were included as a carcinoma group. Chronic proliferative atypical cystitis ('Chernobyl cystitis') was observed in group 1 patients. Foci of dysplasia and carcinoma in situ were found in 51 (85%) and 34 (57%) of the 60 cases, respectively. Chronic cystitis with areas of dysplasia was detected in only 4 (13%) cases of 31 group 2 patients. Statistically significant differences in immunohistochemical scores for TGF-beta1 in the urothelium and lamina propria, iNOS in the urothelium and both beta-catenin and E-cadherin in the cytoplasm were observed between groups 1 and 2 with marked expression in group 1. Furthermore, TGF-beta1 overexpression and alteration in E-cadherin/beta-catenin complexes in bladder urothelium might play a crucial role in urinary bladder carcinogenesis in humans exposed to long-term low-dose ionizing radiation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Institute of Urology, Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine, 9a, Yu. Kotzubinsky Street, 04053, Kiev, Ukraine.
authors.forename: Alina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romanenko
authors.forename: Keiichirou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Morimura
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinoshita
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wanibuchi
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vozianov
authors.forename: Shoji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fukushima
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015820:Cadherins / Q000378:metabolism*; D047852:Chernobyl Nuclear Accident; D005260:Female; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000378:metabolism*; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D051176:beta Catenin / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015820:Cadherins; C508960:TGFB1 protein, human; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D051176:beta Catenin