title: Phosphorylation of STAT3 in Undifferentiated Pleomorphic Sarcoma Is Correlated with a Favorable Prognosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Janus kinase (JAK)-signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway plays a role in various biological processes. Phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3) functions as a transcriptional factor, and suppressor of cytokine signaling 3 (SOCS3) is a potential inhibitor of STAT3. Here, we analyzed the status of the JAK-STAT pathway in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS).
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed immunohistochemistry in 79 samples of UPS and Western blotting in 10 frozen samples. We also examined alterations in protein expression in the JAK-STAT pathway after the inhibition of phosphorylated Akt (p-Akt) or extracellular signal-regulated kinase (p-Erk) in vitro.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Immunohistochemically, p-STAT3 and SOCS3 were positive in 59.7 and 55.8%, respectively. Positivity for p-STAT3 was significantly correlated with a better prognosis (p = 0.0006) and negatively with SOCS3 expression (p = 0.0223). Positivity for SOCS3 was significantly correlated with a worse prognosis (p = 0.0001). Western blotting analysis revealed that p-STAT3 expression was lower in tumor than in normal tissue. In vitro results demonstrated that there was no detectable change in the expression of p-STAT3 regardless of the status of p-Akt or p-Erk.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  p-STAT3 may be a useful prognostic factor for UPS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomic Pathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
authors.forename: Hirofumi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bekki
authors.forename: Kenichi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kohashi
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yamada
authors.forename: Kunio
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Iura
authors.forename: Takeaki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishii
authors.forename: Akira
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maekawa
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otsuka
authors.forename: Hidetaka
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.forename: Michiyuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakozaki
authors.forename: Kazuki
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nabeshima
authors.forename: Yukihide
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Iwamoto
authors.forename: Yoshinao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Oda
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D010766:Phosphorylation; D011379:Prognosis; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt / Q000378:metabolism*; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D012509:Sarcoma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D015398:Signal Transduction; D000071223:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: C106644:SOCS3 protein, human; D050796:STAT3 Transcription Factor; C494086:STAT3 protein, human; D000071223:Suppressor of Cytokine Signaling 3 Protein; D051057:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-akt; D048049:Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases
keywords: JAK-STAT pathway; SOCS3; STAT3; Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma