Molecular Pathology : MP

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Invasive infection with emerging moulds is increasing in incidence and reliable methods for speciating these organisms in tissue sections need to be developed. METHODS: Two methods for extracting fungal DNA from paraffin wax embedded tissue sections, based on the TaKaRa DEXPAT kit and QIAamp DNA mini kit, were optimised and compared. DNA was amplified by PCR using pan-fungal probes, and detected by Southern blot hybridisation using a high stringency method with a probe specific for Aspergillus fumigatus and A flavus...

AIMS: To explore the role of Fas in cardiomyocytic apoptosis induced by ischaemia through determining the histological relation between Fas expression and apoptosis in rat myocardium during ischaemia/infarction. METHODS: The myocardial ischaemia model was produced by ligating the left coronary artery in Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were killed from 10 minutes to seven days after surgery. Apoptotic myocardial cells were detected by the in situ terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase mediated nick end labelling method, and the expression of Fas by immunohistochemistry and western blotting...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Overexpression of the G1 cyclins, D1 and E, and/or downregulation of p27(Kip1) allow uncontrolled tumour cell proliferation. This study investigated the relation between these three cell cycle proteins and tumour proliferation in bladder cancer. METHOD: Nuclear expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, and p27(Kip1) was determined immunohistochemically in 52 primary transitional cell carcinomas, and the Ki-67 proliferation marker was also assessed. For each protein, the percentage of positive tumour cell nuclei was determined and analysed as a continuous variable...

AIMS: To study the expression of nuclear beta catenin in patients with colorectal cancer, colorectal adenoma, and colorectal polyps to elucidate its role in carcinogenesis, and its potential for prognosis and diagnosis. METHODS: The expression of nuclear beta catenin was studied by immunohistochemistry using paraffin wax embedded specimens. Sixty specimens each of colorectal carcinoma, colorectal adenoma, colorectal polyp, and normal colorectal specimens were analysed...

AIM: Polyps of the colon and rectum are considered to be premalignant lesions in the development of colorectal cancer. However, knowledge of how normal epithelial cells gain invasive properties is limited. Laminin 5 gamma 2 chain expression was investigated to determine the role of laminin 5 as a marker of potential invasiveness in colorectal polyps. MATERIAL/METHODS: Sixty seven polyps of different types (15 hyperplastic polyps, 12 serrated adenomas, 16 tubular adenomas, and 24 adenomas with a villous component) were assessed for gamma 2 chain expression of laminin 5 by immunohistochemistry on archival, paraffin wax embedded sections...

AIMS: Several studies have reported that dysregulation of beta catenin or k-ras mutation promotes cyclin D1 expression. This study investigated the relation between cyclin D1 expression and clinicopathological parameters in carcinoma of the ampulla of Vater (CAV), and also assessed the relation between increased cyclin D1 expression and beta catenin/k-ras status in this series. METHODS: Thirty CAVs were evaluated for cyclin D1 expression by immunohistochemistry in relation to patient clinicopathological features...

AIMS: To look for correlations between expression of cell cycle regulatory proteins p34(cdc2), p21(WAF1), and p53 in node negative invasive ductal breast carcinoma, or between these proteins and clinicopathological parameters, and to assess their prognostic value. METHODS: Immunohistochemistry using formalin fixed, paraffin wax embedded sections from 94 breast carcinomas. Adjacent benign epithelial breast tissue was available in 74 cases. Median follow up was 72 months...

AIMS: Women under 35 years of age comprise a small proportion of patients with breast cancer, but determining their prognosis can be difficult. This prospective, multivariate study looked at several factors with the aim of obtaining a useful index to evaluate the prognosis of these women. METHODS: In total, 108 patients below 35 years of age affected by invasive ductal carcinoma without distant metastasis were studied. The mean duration of the follow up period was six years...

AIMS: To compare the expression of the cell adhesion molecules P-cadherin, N-cadherin, and E-cadherin in invasive and in situ breast carcinomas relative to clinicopathological features (size, node status, type, grade, and receptors) to determine whether expression patterns relate to specific tumour characteristics. METHODS: Using immunohistochemistry, 110 invasive and in situ breast carcinomas were examined for the presence, extent, and localisation of all three cadherins...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The incidence of oesophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing rapidly and this may be related to the presence of intestinal metaplasia (IM) at the gastro-oesophageal junction (GOJ). Recent studies have distinguished two subtypes of IM at the GOJ: short segment Barrett's oesophagus (SSBO) and IM at a normal squamo-columnar junction (IMNSCJ). Because abnormal expression of cell cycle regulators is common in cancer and precancerous states, cell cycle regulation was studied in patients with IM at the GOJ...

BACKGROUND: DNA microarray technology has permitted the analysis of global gene expression profiles for several diseases, including cancer. However, standard hybridisation and detection protocols require micrograms of mRNA for microarray analysis, limiting broader application of this technology to small excisional biopsies, needle biopsies, and/or microdissected tissue samples. Therefore, linear amplification protocols to increase the amount of RNA have been developed. The correlation between the results of microarray experiments derived from non-amplified RNA and amplified samples needs to be evaluated in detail...

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No abstract text is available yet for this article.

BACKGROUND: In patients with Wilson's disease (WD), an autosomal recessive disorder, toxic accumulation of copper results in fatal liver disease and irreversible neuronal degeneration. ATP7B, the gene mutated in WD, contains 21 exons and encodes a copper transporting ATPase. A novel disease causing mutation (4193delC) in exon 21 of the ATP7B gene has previously been detected by heteroduplex analysis and DNA sequencing. AIMS: To screen for the above mutation in patients with WD and carriers using an amplification refractory mutation system (ARMS)...

BACKGROUND: INI1 (hSNF5) mutations are linked to rhabdoid tumours, but mutations in meningiomas with hot spot mutations in position 377 have also been reported. AIMS: To analyse the INI1 gene in meningioma. METHODS: Exons 1, 4, 5, and 9 of the INI1 gene were analysed by the polymerase chain reaction and direct sequencing in 80 meningiomas. For all cases, western blotting of the INI1 protein was performed. RESULTS: Only one of the 80 samples showed a cytosine insertion in codon 376...

BACKGROUND: Gastric cancer is one of the most frequent malignancies in the world, ranking fifth in the Netherlands as a cause of cancer death. Surgery is the only curative treatment for advanced cases, but results of gastrectomy largely depend on the stage of the disease. A better understanding of the mechanisms of progression from a preneoplastic condition through intraepithelial neoplasia to invasive cancer may provide information relevant to designing focused prevention strategies...

AIMS: To evaluate the usefulness of molecular markers in predicting histopathological and clinical response to preoperative high dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and survival of patients with advanced gastric cancer. METHODS: In a phase II trial, 25 patients with metastatic gastric cancer received preoperative tandem HDCT consisting of etoposide, cisplatin, and mitomycin, followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation to achieve surgical resectability. Samples before and after treatment, from normal and tumour tissue, were characterised histopathologically, and both p53 and BAX expression was analysed by immunohistochemistry...

AIMS: Secreted Wnt ligands are key proteins regulating cell-cell interactions and cell growth and differentiation. These proteins, along with other components of the Wnt signalling pathway, are involved in the malignant transformation of various human cancers, including malignant melanoma. This study defines the expression of several members of the Wnt ligand family and correlates their expression with histological characteristics. METHODS: The expression of Wnt2, Wnt5a, Wnt5b, Wnt7b, and Wnt10b was defined by in situ, antisense RNA hybridisation of paraffin wax embedded sections of benign naevi and malignant melanoma...

AIMS: To describe a robust pretreatment protocol for preparing paraffin wax embedded tissues on tissue microarrays for fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH). The newly developed pretreatment protocol described here was compared with the commonly used sodium thiocyanate based protocol and two different heating methods used in standard antigen unmasking protocols for immunohistochemistry (pressure cooking and microwaving in citrate acid buffer). METHODS: Dewaxed tissue sections were incubated in 10mM citric acid buffer at 80 degrees C for 30 minutes to two hours, followed by a short pepsin digestion (1-5 mg/ml)...

AIMS: The lung is one of the major sites of phase I cytochrome P450 enzyme and phase II sulfotransferase expression, which together are thought to act as an enzymic barrier against the unimpeded transfer of airborne xenobiotics into the lung parenchyma and systemic circulation. Sulfate for conjugation is produced primarily from the oxidation of cysteine, begun by cysteine dioxygenase (CDO), and completed with the conversion of sulfite to sulfate via sulfite oxidase (SO). Little is known about the site of expression of these two enzymes in the alveoli of the human lung...