Condensed chromatin staining of CKAP2 as surrogate marker for mitotic figures.
OBJECTIVE
Proliferation activity has long been known to be one of the strongest prognostic factors in many different cancers. Nevertheless, microscopic evaluation of mitotic figures remains time-consuming and, furthermore, is relatively subjective. As the expression of cytoskeleton-associated protein 2 (CKAP2) is closely related to the mitotic phase, CKAP2 was evaluated as a surrogate mitotic figure (MF) marker.


METHODS
A monoclonal antibody specific to human CKAP2 was produced, and immunohistochemistry was performed on normal tissue array sections and 30 breast cancer tissues.


RESULTS
The expression of CKAP2 in the normal human tissues was limited to well-known cell proliferation zones. Strong, readily visible, condensed chromatin staining of CKAP2 was observed specifically in mitotic cells, and the number of these cells was tightly correlated with the MF count in breast cancer tissues (P < 0.001, ρ = 0.743), suggesting its usefulness as a surrogate marker for MF counting.


CONCLUSIONS
Immunohistochemical staining with CKAP2 monoclonal antibody can be considered to be a new, effective approach to the assessment of proliferation activity in cancer tissues.
Department of Pathology, Ilsan Paik Hospital, Inje University, Ilsanseo-gu, Goyang, 411-702, Korea.
Han-Seong
HS
Kim
Yong-Bock
YB
Choi
Jung-Hwa
JH
Lee
Seong-Yeol
SY
Park
Hyun-Kyoung
HK
Kim
Jae-Soo
JS
Koh
Sang-Yeop
SY
Yi
Kyung-Tae
KT
Kim
Kyung-Uk
KU
Hong
Joobae
J
Park
Chang-Dae
CD
Bae
Kyeong-Man
KM
Hong
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology; D048708:Cell Growth Processes / Q000502:physiology; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D002843:Chromatin / Q000737:chemistry*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000379:methods; D008938:Mitosis / Q000502:physiology*; D013194:Staining and Labeling / Q000379:methods
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; C114988:CKAP2 protein, human; D002843:Chromatin; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins