1. Steroidogenic Acute Regulatory Protein Is a Useful Marker for Sex-Cord-Stroma Tumors and Normal and Neoplastic Adrenocortical Tissue
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Lennartz, Maximilian, Amezada, Daniela, Hoflmayer, Doris, Rico, Sebastian Dwertmann, von Bargen, Clara, Kind, Simon, Reiswich, Viktor, Viehweger, Florian, Lutz, Florian, Bertram, Veit, Fraune, Christoph, Gorbokon, Natalia, Weidemann, Soren, Hube-Magg, Claudia, Menz, Anne, Uhlig, Ria, Krech, Till, Hinsch, Andrea, Burandt, Eike, Sauter, Guido, Simon, Ronald, Kluth, Martina, Marx, Andreas H., Lebok, Patrick, Dum, David, Minner, Sarah, Jacobsen, Frank, Clauditz, Till S., Bernreuther, Christian, and Steurer, Stefan
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Medical research ,Medicine, Experimental ,Tumors -- Physiological aspects ,Tissues -- Health aspects ,Membrane proteins -- Health aspects ,Biological markers -- Health aspects ,Health ,Physiological aspects ,Health aspects - Abstract
* Context.--Steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein is a mitochondrial transport protein with a critical regulatory role for steroid hormone production. The tissue distribution of StAR expression is limited to few human normal tissues. Objective.--To assess the diagnostic and prognostic value of StAR immunohistochemistry analysis. Design.--A tissue microarray containing 19 202 samples from 152 different tumor types and subtypes and 608 samples of 76 different normal tissue types was analyzed by immunohistochemistry. Result.--StAR immunostaining occurred in 198 (1.2%) of the 17135 analyzable tumors. StAR expression was observed in 27 of 152 tumor categories, 9 of which included at least 1 strongly positive case. The highest rate of StAR positivity occurred in Leydig cell tumors of the testis and the ovary (100%), steroid cell tumors of the ovary (100%), adrenocortical carcinomas (93%) and adenomas (87%), Sertoli-Leydig cell tumors (67%) and granulosa cell tumors of the ovary (56%), as well as seminomas (7%). Nineteen other tumor entities showed--a usually weak--StAR positivity in less than 6% of cases. A comparison with preexisting Melan-A (a melanocyte antigen) data revealed that StAR was more often positive in adrenocortical neoplasms and in Leydig cell tumors while StAR (but not Melan-A) was negative in Sertoli cell tumors. Conclusions.--Our data provide a comprehensive overview on the patterns of StAR immunostaining in human tumors and suggest a diagnostic utility of StAR immunohistochemistry for supporting a diagnosis of Leydig cell tumors or of normal or neoplastic adrenocortical tissue. (Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2024;148:1327-1336; doi: 10.5858/arpa.2023-0281-OA), Steroidogenic acute regulatory (StAR) protein--also known as STARD1--is a mitochondrial transport protein with a critical regulatory role for steroid hormone production by enabling the transport of cholesterol from the outer [...]
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- 2024
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