Expression of liver-type fatty-acid-binding protein, fatty acid synthase and vascular endothelial growth factor in human lung carcinoma.
OBJECTIVE
A key enzyme of fatty acid synthesis, fatty acid synthase (FAS), is expressed in human cancers, including squamous-cell carcinoma of the lung, and long-chain fatty acids are intracellularly transported and/or taken up from blood by fatty-acid-binding proteins (FABPs). Since the liver-type (L-) FABP, a member of the FABPs, is detected in a subset of gastric adenocarcinomas, the expression of FAS, L-FABP and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) was investigated in human lung carcinomas to elucidate the mechanisms of production and transportation of fatty acid(s) in cancer.


METHODS
Expression of L-FABP, FAS and VEGF in 199 surgically resected lung carcinomas was examined immunohistochemically. Possible associations of the expression of each protein with major clinicopathological factors were analyzed.


RESULTS
L-FABP was detected in 60% (120 of 199) of the lung carcinoma cases; detection was increased in large-cell carcinoma (80%) and adenosquamous carcinoma (83%), but low in squamous-cell carcinoma (47%) and in small-cell carcinoma (57%). Overall expression of FAS was 67.3% (134 of 199 cases) and that of VEGF was 86.8% (158 of 199 cases), respectively. Expression of L-FABP was not correlated with the FAS status, but there was a tendency to co-expression of L-FABP and VEGF. There was no association between L-FABP, FAS or VEGF expression and clinicopathological data.


CONCLUSIONS
L-FABP, FAS and VEGF are highly expressed in human lung cancer, and expression of L-FABP is associated with that of VEGF but not that of FAS, suggesting that L-FABP might be involved in the uptake of fatty acid(s) from the bloodstream.
Kawamura
Tetsuo
T
Department of Pathology, Fukushima Medical University School of Medicine, Fukushima, Japan.
Kanno
Ryuzo
R
Fujii
Hiroshi
H
Suzuki
Toshimitsu
T
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases / Q000378:metabolism*; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D019084:Fluorescent Antibody Technique, Indirect; D006801:Humans; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000378:metabolism*
C493319:FABP1 protein, human; D050556:Fatty Acid-Binding Proteins; C467484:VEGFA protein, human; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D064429:Fatty Acid Synthases