Expression of PI3K, PTEN and Akt in small intestinal adenocarcinoma detected by quantum dots-based immunofluorescence technology.
BACKGROUND
Small intestinal adenocarcinoma (SIA) is often diagnosed at an advanced stage due to its rarity and nonspecific clinical manifestations. Abnormal activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway may lead to various diseases including cancer. In this study, we explored the relationship between those pathways and SIA.


OBJECTIVE
To investigate the expression of PI3K, phospho-Akt (p-Akt) and PTEN in SIA to evaluate their clinical significance.


METHODS
Expression of PI3K, p-Akt and PTEN biomarkers were examined by quantum dots-based immunofluorescence histochemistry (QDs-IHC) and traditional immunohistochemistry (IHC). There are 53 SIA samples, 11 non-cancer tissue samples and 11 normal small intestine tissues.


RESULTS
The positive frequencies of PI3K and p-Akt expression were significantly higher in the SIA group (77.4%, 41/53 and 77.4%, 41/53, respectively) than that in the non-cancer group (36.4%, 4/11 and 27.3, 3/11, respectively) and normal small intestine tissue group (36.4%, 4/11 and 18.2, 2/11, respectively). However, the difference of the positive rates of PTEN expression in three groups did not reach a statistical difference (P=0.761). The IHC results were in concordance with the QDs-IHC.


CONCLUSIONS
These observations support that PI3K/Akt pathway is highly activated in SIA, which may implicate therapeutic targeting of the PI3K/Akt signaling pathway for its treatment.
Department of Pathology, School of Basic Medical Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
Yi
Y
Zhang
Xue
X
Yao
Congqing
C
Jiang
Junqiu
J
Yue
Jing
J
Guan
Honglei
H
Cheng
Mohammed
M
Hajirashid
Yan
Y
Wang
Lifang
L
Fan
D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D015870:Gene Expression; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D007414:Intestinal Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D007421:Intestine, Small / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D045663:Quantum Dots
D019869:Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinases; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D051059:PTEN Phosphohydrolase; C494929:PTEN protein, human
Adenocarcinoma; PI3K; PTEN; p-Akt; quantum dots; small intestine