title: Increased expression of erythropoietin receptor in human pterygial tissues.
abstract: Erythropoietin (Epo) induces physiological activities such as cell proliferation, migration, and angiogenesis in Epo receptor (EpoR)-expressing vascular endothelial and tumor cells. Recently, it has been demonstrated that growth factor-independent proliferation is frequently observed during the cell transformation process. Pterygium is a fibrovascular proliferating tissue that includes transformed cells. The aim of this study was to examine the localization of Epo and EpoR proteins in human pterygial tissues. Eleven samples including nine pterygia and two normal bulbar conjunctivas, which were surgically excised, were studied. Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections were constructed and then were examined by immunohistochemistry with anti-Epo and EpoR antibodies. Cytoplasmic immunoreactivity for EpoR was heterogeneously detected in basal and suprabasal cells of the pterygium epithelium. In the pterygium stroma, a variety of endothelial cells forming vascular cavities showed cytolasmic immunoreactivity for EpoR. In normal conjunctival epithelium, a few basal cells showed a weak homogeneous immunoreactivity for EpoR in the cytoplasm. The number of EpoR-expressing epithelial cells was much higher in the pterygium compared to the normal conjunctiva. EpoR expression was marginally detected in stromal microvessels of the normal conjunctiva. Immunoreactivity for Epo was not noted in pterygium epithelium and stroma, and in normal conjunctiva. These results suggest that the Epo-independent EpoR-signaling pathway plays a potential role in cell proliferation and angiogenesis in human pterygium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan. kaseron@med.hokudai.ac.jp
authors.forename: Satoru
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kase
authors.forename: Mitsuhiko
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Osaki
authors.forename: Xue-Hai
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohgami
authors.forename: Kazuhiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yoshida
authors.forename: Wataru
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Saito
authors.forename: Shuji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Katsuya
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nakanishi
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.forename: Shigeaki
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohno
mesh_terms: D003228:Conjunctiva / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D004848:Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D011625:Pterygium / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D017467:Receptors, Erythropoietin