The small intestinal mucosa makes up about 90% of the total surface of the gastrointestinal tract. However, adenocarcinomas arise rarely in this location. To elucidate genetic alterations underlying ...tumour development in the small intestine we investigated 17 sporadic adenocarcinomas. By comparative genomic hybridization recurrent gains of chromosomal material were found at chromosomes 7, 8, 13q, and 20 (5/17, each), while non-random losses were seen at 8p, 17p (4/17, each), and 18 (8/17 cases). Deletions at 5q, the location of the APC tumour suppressor gene, were seen in three cases. Microsatellite analysis with markers on chromosomal arms 1p, 5q, 8p, 17p, 18q, 19p, and 22q revealed a microsatellite instable phenotype in two cases and a high frequency of loss at 18q21-q22 (80%). Given the high incidence of 18q21-q22 deletions, we performed sequencing analysis of SMAD4, a downstream component of the TGFbeta-pathway, located at 18q21. Four tumours displayed mutations in highly conserved domains of the gene indicating disruption of TGFbeta-signalling. Our data reveal complex genetic alterations in sporadic small intestinal carcinomas. However, most tumours share deletions of 18q21-q22, which frequently target SMAD4. This indicates that disruption of TGFbeta-signalling plays a critical role in small intestinal tumorigenesis.
A dysregulated secretion of contra-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-10 (IL-10) could play a role in the pathogenesis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). We have investigated the expression ...of IL-10 in gut tissues from patients with Crohn's disease (CD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and controls by mRNA
in situhybridization and immunohistochemistry. Intestinal epithelial cells were found to express IL-10 mRNA and IL-10 protein in all of the tissues investigated without any major differences in the expression patterns. However, compared with noninflamed gut, significantly increased numbers of mononuclear cells (MNCs) producing IL-10 were present in inflamed gut, both in CD and UC. This cytokine was expressed most prominently by inflammatory infiltrates enriched in macrophages, although T cells seem to contribute to its production as well. Elevated IL-10 expression in IBD was mainly detected in the submucosa, whereas IL-10 production by lamina propria cells remained comparably low. In contrast, the expression of IL-1β mRNA was preferentially increased in the lamina propria. Our data argue against a general deficiency in IL-10 production in IBD. The results suggest rather that the local production of IL-10 by mucosal MNCs in IBD is insufficient to down-regulate pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β in the lamina propria compartment.
The longest open reading frame of PKHD1 (polycystic kidney and hepatic disease 1), the autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease (ARPKD) gene, encodes a single‐pass, integral membrane protein ...named polyductin or fibrocystin. A fusion protein comprising its intracellular C‐terminus, FP2, was previously used to raise a polyclonal antiserum shown to detect polyductin in several human tissues, including liver. In the current study, we aimed to investigate by immunohistochemistry the detailed polyductin localization pattern in normal (ductal plate DP, remodelling ductal plate RDP, remodelled bile ducts) and abnormal development of the primitive intrahepatic biliary system, known as ductal plate malformation (DPM). This work also included the characterization of polyductin expression profile in various histological forms of neonatal and infantile cholestasis, and in cholangiocellular carcinoma (CCC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). We detected polyductin expression in the intrahepatic biliary system during the DP and the RDP stages as well as in DPM. No specific staining was found at the stage of remodelled bile ducts. Polyductin was also detected in liver biopsies with neonatal cholestasis, including mainly biliary atresia and neonatal hepatitis with ductular reaction as well as congenital hepatic fibrosis. In addition, polyductin was present in CCC, whereas it was absent in HCC. Polyductin was also co‐localized in some DP cells together with oval stem cell markers. These results represent the first systematic study of polyductin expression in human pathologies associated with abnormal development of intrahepatic biliary tree, and support the following conclusions: (i) polyductin expression mirrors developmental properties of the primitive intrahepatic biliary system; (ii) polyductin is re‐expressed in pathological conditions associated with DPM and (iii) polyductin might be a potential marker to distinguish CCC from HCC.
Microscopic detection of structural alterations is the most reliable method to identify apoptotic cells, which however, does not allow any correlation with cell cycle phases. Discrimination of ...individual cells within solid human tumors undergoing apoptotic death is possible by flow cytometry where apoptotic cells appear in a hypodiploid sub G0/1-peak as a consequence of partial DNA loss. To refer induction of apoptosis to cell cycle phases we adopted the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase nick-end-labelling (TUNEL) technique to flow cytometry which enables the detection of cellular DNA content and DNA fragmentation by multiparametric analysis. One thousand seven hundred human breast carcinomas were screened. In 40 cases (2.3%) of 1700 carcinomas we detected a hypodiploid sub -G0/1 apoptotic peak. The spontaneous apoptotic fractions within individual tumors ranged between 1.5 and 25%. A correlation (r
2=0.78) was found between apoptotic cells in sub-G0/1-peak measured by DNA-cytometry and TUNEL positive cells measured by multiparametric cytometry, because TUNEL reaction signed also cells with strand breaks. High proliferation indices correspond well (r
2=0.807) with the increased amount of TUNEL positive cells. Multiparametric flow cytometry for the combined determination of DNA-content and DNA-fragmentation by TUNEL offers not only the advantage of a higher apoptosis sensitivity but also enables the quantification of DNA fragmentation related to any cell cycle phase.
Deleted in Malignant Brain Tumors 1 (DMBT1) has been proposed as a candidate tumor suppressor gene for brain, lung, and digestive tract cancer. In particular, alterations of the gene and/or a loss of ...expression have been observed in gastric, colorectal, and esophageal carcinomas. Initial evidence has accumulated that DMBT1 may represent a multifunctional protein. Because the consequences of a loss of DMBT1 function may be different depending on its original function in a particular tissue, we wondered if it is appropriate to assume a uniform role for DMBT1 in digestive tract carcinomas. We hypothesized that a systematic characterization of DMBT1 in the human alimentary tract would be useful to improve the understanding of this molecule and its role in digestive tract carcinomas. Our data indicate that the expression pattern and subcellular distribution of DMBT1 in the human alimentary tract is reminiscent of epithelial mucins. Bovine gallbladder mucin is identified as the DMBT1 homologue in cattle. An elaborate alternative splicing may generate a great variety of DMBT1 isoforms. Monolayered epithelia display transcripts of 6 kb and larger, and generally show a lumenal secretion of DMBT1 indicating a role in mucosal protection. The esophagus is the only tissue displaying an additional smaller transcript of approximately 5 kb. The stratified squamous epithelium of the esophagus is the only epithelium showing a constitutive targeting of DMBT1 to the extracellular matrix (ECM) suggestive of a role in epithelial differentiation. Squamous cell carcinomas of the esophagus show an early loss of DMBT1 expression. In contrast, adenocarcinomas of the esophagus commonly maintain higher DMBT1 expression levels. However, presumably subsequent to a transition from the lumenal secretion to a targeting to the ECM, a loss of DMBT1 expression also takes place in adenocarcinomas. Regarding DMBT1 as a mucin-like molecule is a new perspective that is instructive for its functions and its role in cancer. We conclude that DMBT1 is likely to play a differential role in the genesis of digestive tract carcinomas. However, although DMBT1 originally has divergent functions in monolayered and multilayered epithelia, carcinogenesis possibly converges in a common pathway that requires an inactivation of its functions in the ECM.
Germline mutations of the APC gene cause familial adenomatous polyposis coli (FAP). APC inactivation results in dysregulation of wnt/wingless signaling and contributes to chromosomal instability in ...vitro. To investigate somatic alterations that follow a known germline mutation and contribute to the transition from normal to neoplastic mucosa, we studied 10 adenomatous polyps from a 27-year-old patient with an APC germline mutation at codon 554. Chromosomal imbalances were analyzed by comparative genomic hybridization; APC and K-ras were screened for somatic mutations. Before DNA analysis, the polyps were bisected to compare the genetic alterations with the corresponding immunohistologic phenotype of beta-catenin, a proto-oncogene product degraded by the APC tumor suppressor. Gains at chromosome 20 were the most frequent chromosomal alterations (6 polyps). Losses were found predominantly at chromosome 4q (3 polyps). A K-ras mutation was seen in 1 polyp, while all polyps displayed somatic intragenic APC mutations. Comparative immunohistologic analysis revealed strong membranous staining for beta-catenin in all adenomatous polyps, but only 1 adenoma showed nuclear accumulation. Our results suggest chromosomal aberrations contribute early to the progression of adenomatous polyps after biallelic APC inactivation. APC inactivation itself is insufficient for immunohistochemically detectable nuclear translocation of beta-catenin.
![[Corrigendum] Wnt‑signaling...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/1019-6439/small "[Corrigendum] Wnt‑signaling and apoptosis after neoadjuvant short‑term radiotherapy for rectal cancer")
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