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Background: Previously, using gene-knockdown techniques together with genome expression array analysis, we showed the gene protein Kinase C (PKC)-zeta (PRKCZ) to mediate the malignant phenotype of human prostate cancer. However, according to NCBI, the gene has undergone several major iterations. Therefore, to understand the relationship between its structure and biological activities, we have analysed its expressed sequence in prostate cancer cell lines and tissues.Methods: Transcriptome-walking and targeted PCR were used to sequence the mRNA transcribed from PRKCZ. Hydropathy analysis was employed to analyse the hypothetical protein sequence subsequently translated and to identify an appropriate epitope to generate a specific monoclonal antibody.Results: A novel sequence was identified within the 3'-terminal domain of human PRKCZ that, in prostate cancer cell lines and tissues, is expressed during transcription and thereafter translated into protein (designated PKC-ζ(-PrC)) independent of conventional PKC-ζ(-a). The monoclonal antibody detected expression of this 96 kD protein only within malignant prostatic epithelium.Interpretation: Transcription and translation of this gene sequence, including previous intronic sequences, generates a novel specific biomarker of human prostate cancer. The presence of catalytic domains characteristic of classic PKC-β and atypical PKC-ι within PKC-ζ(-PrC) provides a potential mechanism for this PRKCZ variant to modulate the malignant prostatic phenotype out-with normal cell-regulatory control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A lack of biomarkers that detect drug-induced liver injury (DILI) accurately continues to hinder early- and late-stage drug development and remains a challenge in clinical practice. The Innovative Medicines Initiative's TransBioLine consortium comprising academic and industry partners is developing a prospective repository of deeply phenotyped cases and controls with biological samples during liver injury progression to facilitate biomarker discovery, evaluation, validation and qualification.In a nested case-control design, patients who meet one of these criteria, alanine transaminase (ALT) ≥ 5 × the upper limit of normal (ULN), alkaline phosphatase ≥ 2 × ULN or ALT ≥ 3 ULN with total bilirubin > 2 × ULN, are enrolled. After completed clinical investigations, Roussel Uclaf Causality Assessment and expert panel review are used to adjudicate episodes as DILI or alternative liver diseases (acute non-DILI controls). Two blood samples are taken: at recruitment and follow-up. Sample size is as follows: 300 cases of DILI and 130 acute non-DILI controls. Additional cross-sectional cohorts (1 visit) are as follows: Healthy volunteers (n = 120), controls with chronic alcohol-related or non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (n = 100 each) and patients with psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis (n = 100, 50 treated with methotrexate) are enrolled. Candidate biomarkers prioritised for evaluation include osteopontin, glutamate dehydrogenase, cytokeratin-18 (full length and caspase cleaved), macrophage-colony-stimulating factor 1 receptor and high mobility group protein B1 as well as bile acids, sphingolipids and microRNAs. The TransBioLine project is enabling biomarker discovery and validation that could improve detection, diagnostic accuracy and prognostication of DILI in premarketing clinical trials and for clinical healthcare application., (© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.)

Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) are a promising source of somatic cells for clinical applications and disease modelling. However, during culture they accumulate genetic aberrations such as amplification of 20q11.21 which occurs in approximately 20% of extensively cultured hPSC lines and confers a BCL2L1-mediated survival advantage. During the production of the large number of cells required for transplantation and therapy these aberrations may become unavoidable which has important safety implications for therapies and may also impact upon disease modelling. Presently, these risks are poorly understood; whilst it is apparent that large-scale genetic aberrations can pose an oncogenic risk, the risks associated with smaller, more insidious changes have not been fully explored. In this report, the effects of engraftment of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and hESC-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) with and without amplification of the 20q11.21 minimal amplicon and isochromosome 20q (i20q) in SCID-beige mice are presented. The cells were tracked in vivo using a luminescent reporter over a period of approximately four months. Intrasplenic injection of hESCs showed greater engraftment potential and the formation of more severely disruptive lesions in the liver and spleen of animals injected with cells containing 20q11.21 compared with i20q and wild type. HLCs with 20q11.21 engrafted more successfully and formed more severely disruptive lesions than wild type cells or cells with i20q. These results reinforce the notion that karyotyping of therapeutic hPSC is required for transplant, and suggest that screening for known common aberrations is necessary. Further work to identify commonly arising genetic aberrations should be performed and routine screening for hPSCs intended for therapeutic use should be used., Competing Interests: This work was funded by UK Regenerative Medicine PlatformThe authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © Journal of Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.)

Background and Aims: The transcription factor nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) regulates an array of cytoprotective genes, yet studies in transgenic mice have led to conflicting reports on its role in liver regeneration. We aimed to test the hypothesis that pharmacological activation of Nrf2 would enhance liver regeneration., Approach and Results: Wild-type and Nrf2 null mice were administered bardoxolone methyl (CDDO-Me), a potent activator of Nrf2 that has entered clinical development, and then subjected to two-thirds partial hepatectomy. Using translational noninvasive imaging techniques, CDDO-Me was shown to enhance the rate of restoration of liver volume (MRI) and improve liver function (multispectral optoacoustic imaging of indocyanine green clearance) in wild-type, but not Nrf2 null, mice following partial hepatectomy. Using immunofluorescence imaging and whole transcriptome analysis, these effects were found to be associated with an increase in hepatocyte hypertrophy and proliferation, the suppression of immune and inflammatory signals, and metabolic adaptation in the remnant liver tissue. Similar processes were modulated following exposure of primary human hepatocytes to CDDO-Me, highlighting the potential relevance of our findings to patients., Conclusions: Our results indicate that pharmacological activation of Nrf2 is a promising strategy for enhancing functional liver regeneration. Such an approach could therefore aid the recovery of patients undergoing liver surgery and support the treatment of acute and chronic liver disease., (© 2021 The Authors. HEPATOLOGY published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases.)

The transcription factor Nrf2 coordinates an adaptive response to chemical and oxidative stress characterised by the upregulated expression of cytoprotective target genes. In order to understand the mechanistic relevance of Nrf2 as a marker of drug-induced stress it is important to know if this adaptive response is truly localised in the context of organ-specific drug toxicity. Here, we address this knowledge gap through real-time bioluminescence imaging of transgenic Nrf2-luciferase (Nrf2-luc) reporter mice following administration of the metabolism-dependent hepatotoxin acetaminophen (APAP) or the direct nephrotoxin cisplatin. We detected localised bioluminescence in the liver (APAP) and kidneys (cisplatin) in vivo and ex vivo, whilst qPCR, Taqman low-density array and immunoblot analysis of these tissues further revealed increases in the expression level of several endogenous Nrf2-regulated genes/proteins, including heme oxygenase 1 (Hmox1). Consistent with the toxic effects of APAP in the liver and cisplatin in the kidney, immunohistochemical analysis revealed the elevated expression of luciferase and Hmox1 in centrilobular hepatocytes and in tubular epithelial cells, respectively. In keeping with the role of reactive metabolite formation in APAP-induced chemical stress, both the hepatotoxicity and localised Nrf2-luc response were ameliorated by the cytochrome P450 inhibitor aminobenzotriazole. Together, these findings show that Nrf2 can reflect highly-localised cellular perturbations associated with relevant toxicological mechanisms.

Castration resistant-prostate cancer is largely impervious to feather hormonal therapy and hence the outlook for patients is grim. Here we use an approach to attach the recently discovered Achilles heel. The experimental treatment established in this study is based on the recent discovery that it is the FABP5-PPARγ-VEGF signalling axis, rather than the androgen receptor pathway, played a dominant role in promoting the malignant progression of castration resistant prostate cancer cells. Treatments have been established in mice by suppressing the biological activity of FABP5 using a chemical inhibitor SBFI26. The inhibitor significantly suppressed the proliferation, migration, invasiveness and colony formation of PC3-M cells in vitro. It also produced a highly significant suppression of both the metastases and the primary tumours developed from cancer cells implanted orthotopically into the prostate glands of the mice. The inhibitor SBFI26 interferes with the FABP5-PPARγ- signalling pathway at the initial stage of the signal transduction by binding competitively to FABP5 to inhibit cellular fatty acid uptake. This avoids the fatty-acid stimulation of PPARγ and prevents it activating the down-stream regulated cancer-promoting genes. This entirely novel experimental approach to treating castration- resistant prostate cancer is completely different from current treatments that are based on androgen-blockade therapy.

microRNA-122 (miR-122) is increasingly being measured in pre-clinical and clinical settings due to greater sensitivity and hepatic specificity compared to the gold standard liver injury biomarker alanine aminotransferase (ALT). In pre-clinical studies, various culling methods can be employed prior to collection of blood samples, including lethal injection with pentobarbital sodium (Pentoject). However, little is known about whether such an approach could alter the circulating levels of miR-122 and compromise the interpretation of data. We therefore exposed C57BL/6J mice to saline or the model hepatotoxin paracetamol and collected blood samples pre-cull ( via tail bleed) and post-cull ( via cardiac puncture following exposure to a rising concentration of CO 2 or intraperitoneal injection of Pentoject). Compared to pre-cull levels there was a significant increase in serum miR-122 level in mice culled with CO 2 and, to a much greater extent, in mice culled with Pentoject. As a result, whilst the serum level of miR-122 increased in Pentoject-culled animals exposed to paracetamol, the higher level in saline-treated mice rendered this difference statistically non-significant, in contrast to findings in animals culled with CO 2 . ALT levels were unaffected by sacrifice method. Consistent with the in vivo findings, exposure of primary mouse hepatocytes to Pentoject provoked a rapid and concentration-dependent release of miR-122 into the culture media. Thus, for optimal design and interpretation of data from pre-clinical liver injury studies in which miR-122 is to be used as a biomarker, we recommend that blood samples are collected pre-cull whenever possible, and that lethal injection with Pentoject is avoided.

In contrast to numerous studies conducted to investigate the crucial role of fatty acid binding protein 5 (FABP5) in prostate cancer, investigations on the possible involvement of other FABPs are rare. Here we first measured the mRNA levels of 10 FABPs in benign and malignant prostate cell lines and identified the differentially expressed FABP6 and FABP9 mRNAs whose levels in all malignant cell lines were higher than those in the benign cells. Thereafter we assessed the expression status of FABP6 and FABP9 in both prostate cell lines and in human tissues. FABP6 protein was overexpressed only in 1 of the 5 malignant cell lines and its immunostaining intensities were not significantly different between benign and malignant prostate tissues. In contrast, FABP9 protein was highly expressed in highly malignant cell lines PC-3 and PC3-M, but its level in the benign PNT-2 and other malignant cell lines was not detectable. When analysed in an archival set of human prostate tissues, immunohistochemical staining intensity for FABP9 was significantly higher in carcinomas than in benign cases and the increase in FABP9 was significantly correlated with reduced patient survival times. Moreover, the increased level of staining for FABP9 was significantly associated with the increased joint Gleason scores (GS) and androgen receptor index (AR). Suppression of FABP9 expression in highly malignant PC3-M cells inhibited their invasive potential. Our results suggest that FABP9 is a valuable prognostic marker to predict the outcomes of prostate cancer patients, perhaps by playing an important role in prostate cancer cell invasion.

In previous work, it is suggested that the excessive amount of fatty acids transported by FABP5 may facilitate the malignant progression of prostate cancer cells through a FABP5-PPARγ-VEGF signal transduction axis to increase angiogenesis. To further functionally characterise the FABP5-PPARγ-VEGF signal transduction pathway, we have, in this work, investigated the molecular mechanisms involved in its tumorigenicity promoting role in prostate cancer. Suppression of PPARγ in highly malignant prostate cancer cells produced a significant reduction (up to 53%) in their proliferation rate, invasiveness (up to 89%) and anchorage-independent growth (up to 94%) in vitro. Knockdown of PPARγ gene in PC3-M cells by siRNA significantly reduced the average size of tumours formed in nude mice by 99% and tumour incidence by 90%, and significantly prolonged the latent period by 3.5 fold. Results in this study combined with some previous results suggested that FABP5 promoted VEGF expression and angiogenesis through PPARγ which was activated by fatty acids transported by FABP5. Further investigations showed that PPARγ up-regulated VEGF expression through acting with the PPAR-responsive elements in the promoter region of VEGF gene in prostate cancer cells. Although androgen can modulate VEGF expression through Sp1/Sp3 binding site on VEGF promoter in androgen-dependent prostate cancer cells, this route, disappeared as the cells gradually lost their androgen dependency; was replaced by the FABP5-PPARγ-VEGF signalling pathway. These results suggested that the FABP5-PPARγ-VEGF signal transduction axis, rather than androgen modulated route, may be a more important novel therapeutic target for angiogenesis-suppression treatment of castration resistant prostate cancer.

Advances in genomic and transcriptome sequencing are revealing the massive scale of previously unrecognised alterations occurring during neoplastic transformation. Breast cancers are genetically and phenotypically heterogeneous. Each of the three major subtypes [ERBB2 amplified, estrogen receptor (ESR)-positive and triple-negative] poses diagnostic and therapeutic challenges. Here we show, using high-resolution next-generation transcriptome sequencing, that in all three breast cancer subtypes, but not matched controls, there was significant overexpression of transcripts from intronic and untranslated regions in addition to exons from specific genes, particularly amplified oncogenes and hormone receptors. For key genes ERBB2 and ESR1, we demonstrate that overexpression is linked to the production of highly modified and truncated splice variants in tumours, but not controls, correlated with tumour subtype. Translation of these tumour-specific splice variants generates truncated proteins with altered subcellular locations and functions, modifying the phenotype, affecting tumour biology, and targeted antitumour therapies. In contrast, tumour suppressors TP53, BRCA1/2 and NF1 did not show intronic overexpression or truncated splice variants in cancers. These findings emphasize the detection of intronic as well as exonic changes in the transcriptional landscapes of cancers have profound therapeutic implications.

Constant deregulation of Id1 and Id3 has been implicated in a wide range of carcinomas. However, underlying molecular evidence for the joint role of Id1 and Id3 in the tumorigenicity of small cell lung cancer (SCLC) is sparse. Investigating the biological significance of elevated expression in SCLC cells, we found that Id1 and Id3 co-suppression resulted in significant reduction of proliferation rate, invasiveness and anchorage-independent growth. Suppressing both Id1 and Id3 expression also greatly reduced the average size of tumors produced by transfectant cells when inoculated subcutaneously into nude mice. Further investigation revealed that suppressed expression of Id1 and Id3 was accompanied by decreased angiogenesis and increased apoptosis. Therefore, the SCLC tumorigenicity suppression effect of double knockdown of Id1 and Id3 may be regulated through pathways of apoptosis and angiogenesis.

The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that cooperative interaction between cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein (C-FABP) and peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) promotes the malignant progression of human prostate cancer. The expression of C-FABP, PPARβ/δ and PPARγ was measured by western blot analysis in prostate cell lines and by immunohistochemical staining in tissue sections of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostatic carcinomas. The correlation between the expression of PPARs and C-FABP was assessed. The significance of increased expression of these proteins was analysed with respect to prognosis and compared with those of alternative biomarkers. The expression levels of C-FABP and PPARγ in prostate cancer cell lines and the cytoplasm and nuclei of carcinoma tissues were significantly (Student's t-test, p<0.05) higher compared to those in benign cell lines and BPH tissues. The raised expression level of C-FABP and PPARγ was significantly correlated with the increased combined Gleason scores (GS) of the carcinomas. Enhanced expression of cytoplasmic C-FABP significantly correlated with increased nuclear PPARγ (Student's t-test, p<0.005). While expression of PPARβ/δ in carcinomas did not correlate with patient outcome, the increased levels of both C-FABP and PPARγ were associated with shorter patient survival. Multivariate analysis indicated that C-FABP was independently associated with patient survival, whereas PPARγ was confounded by C-FABP in predicting patient survival. Thus, the increased C-FABP may interact with PPARγ in a coordinated mechanism to facilitate malignant progression in prostatic cancer. Both C-FABP and PPARγ are suitable as prognostic factors to predict the clinical outcome of prostatic cancer patients.

Cutaneous fatty acid-binding protein (C-FABP), a cancer promoter and metastasis inducer, is overexpressed in the majority of prostatic carcinomas. Investigation of molecular mechanisms involved in tumor-promoting activity of C-FABP has established that there is a fatty acid-initiated signaling pathway leading to malignant progression of prostatic cancer cells. Increased C-FABP expression plays an important role in this novel signaling pathway. Thus, when C-FABP expression is increased, excessive amounts of fatty acids are transported into the nucleus where they act as signaling molecules to stimulate their nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ). The activated PPARγ then modulates the expression of its downstream target regulatory genes, which eventually lead to enhanced tumor expansion and aggressiveness caused by an overgrowth of cells with reduced apoptosis and an increased angiogenesis.

Expression of osteopontin (OPN) is increased in prostate cancer cells. The possibility of utilising the increased OPN as a target to suppress the tumourigenicity was investigated in this study. Small interference RNAs against OPN were transfected into highly malignant DU145 prostate cancer cells, which express high level of OPN prior to the transfections, to establish OPN-suppressed clones. Compared with the control transfectants generated by scrambled RNA, suppressed expression of OPN significantly inhibited cell invasiveness and anchorage-independent growth. Similar results were obtained from in vivo experiments. OPN-suppressed transfectants produced significant reductions in average sizes of subcutaneous tumours after inoculation into nude mice. When the levels of OPN measured in transfectants before injection were related to tumour sizes, the reduction in tumour sizes was not propotionally related to the inhibition in OPN-levels. However, when the levels of OPN were analysed in the tumour tissues, it was found that the reduced OPN expression levels were significantly associated with the reducing tumour sizes. These results showed that changes in OPN levels had occurred after the transfectants were inoculated in mice. This study suggested while OPN can be an effective target for therapeutic suppression of prostate cancer, more effective way than RNAi is needed to inhibit OPN expression.

Id3 is over-expressed in small cell lung cancer (SCLC). To test whether the tumourigenicity of SCLC cells can be inhibited by suppressing Id3 expression, we transfected siRNA into SCLC cell line GLC-19 and established two sublines (G-Id3-1 and G-Id3-7) which expressed only 30% of the level of Id3 measured in control transfectants. Suppression of Id3 expression in both G-Id3-1 and G-Id3-7 cells produced significant reductions in proliferation rates and in numbers of colonies formed in soft agar assay. When G-Id3-1, G-Id3-7 and the control transfectants were inoculated subcutaneously into 3 groups (8 each) of nude mice, respectively, all (100%) inoculated animals produced tumours. Although there was no difference in tumour incidents amongst the 3 groups, significant reductions were observed in both size and weight of tumours produced by either G-Id3-1 or G-Id3-7 cells. While the final average volume of tumours produced in control group was 1012.1+/-394 mm(3), it was significantly reduced (p<0.001, p<0.01) by 2.1- and 2.9-fold to 475.7+/-167 mm(3) and 354.3+/-218 mm(3) in groups inoculated with G-Id3-1 and G-Id3-7 cells, respectively. Similar differences were also observed in average weight of tumours. Upon induction of apoptosis by cytotoxin camptothecin, the percentages of apoptotic cells in G-Id3-1 and G-Id3-7 were, respectively >2.4-fold higher than that in control. The results in this study suggest that highly expressed Id3 in SCLC cells may be an important therapeutic target for tumour suppression.

The gene FABP5 encodes cutaneous fatty acid binding protein (C-FABP) that is up-regulated in prostate cancer where it acts as a putative oncogene. To test the hypothesis that siRNA to FABP5 delivered to the external environment of a prostate cancer would reduce the level of C-FABP in vivo, experiments were established whereby siRNA to FABP5 suspended in atelocollagen was injected around tumour masses produced by PC-3M cells in Balb/c nude mice and compared with the effect of non-specific scrambled siRNA in atelocollagen. At autopsy, the average size of tumours from the groups treated with 10 and 15 microM siRNA in atelocollagen was significantly (p=0.02) reduced by more than 3-fold, when compared to the controls. In contrast, when compared to the tumours produced by the group treated with scrambled siRNA, treatment with 10 microM FABP5 siRNA in buffer and 1 or 5 microM siRNA in atelocollagen did not produce significant differences. Although the dosage of 15 microM siRNA produced a greater reduction in tumour sizes when compared with 10 microM, this difference was not significant (p=0.9). Immunohistochemistry and Western blotting revealed that the levels of C-FABP expression in tumours from mice treated with 10 and 15 microM dosages were lower than those from the other groups. These data demonstrate that FABP5 siRNA delivered by atelocollagen to the external environment surrounding a tumour mass can effectively inhibit prostate cancer cell growth in nude mice when administered in a dose-dependent manner at concentrations of >10 microM.

Purpose: To study the molecular pathology of human small cell lung cancer (SCLC), molecular biology approaches were used to identify genes involved in malignant progression of the cancer cells., Experimental Design: Microquantity differential display was used initially to identify genes expressed differentially between normal and malignant cell lines. The differences were verified by Western blot. Immunohistochemical analysis was done on paired normal and malignant lung tissues and on tissues taken by biopsy to assess the expression status of candidate genes and their prognostic significance., Results: Inhibitor of DNA/differentiation (Id)1 gene was up-regulated in SCLC cells. Levels of Id1 in 8 of 10 cell lines were increased by 1.7- to 21.4-fold when compared with the benign cells. A similar increase was also found in levels of Id2 and Id3. On 26 pairs of lung tissues, all four Id proteins were significantly (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, P < 0.001-0.005) overexpressed in cytoplasm of the malignant cells. In nuclei of SCLC cells, Id1 expression was significantly reduced, whereas the levels of Id2, Id3, and Id4 were significantly (Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test, P < 0.001) increased. Immunohistochemical staining on biopsy specimens showed that the increased expression of Id2 in cytoplasm of cancer cells, not the other three proteins, was significantly associated with the increased survival of SCLC patients., Conclusion: Changed expression profiles of Id proteins may play important roles in malignant progression of SCLC, and the increased Id2 in cytoplasm is a novel prognostic factor to predict the patient outcomes.

C-FABP or E-FABP is a metastasis inducing gene over expressed in human prostate carcinomas. To study its prognostic significance, an archival set of prostate tissues was analysed immunohistochemically. Levels of both nuclear and cytoplasmic C-FABP expression in carcinoma cells were significantly higher than those in normal and BPH tissues and the increased C-FABP was significantly associated with a reduced patient survival time. To test the therapeutic potential of targeting C-FABP, a clone (Si-clone-2) of cells was established by interfering C-FABP expression in highly malignant PC-3M cells. Suppression of C-FABP in cancer cells significantly inhibited their proliferation and tumourigenicity in vitro. When Si-clone-2 cells were orthotopically implanted into the prostate gland of mouse, 2/13 mice produced primary tumours with an average size of 23+/-5 mg, and no metastasis was produced in any of the 13 animals. Whereas in the control group, all 14 mice produced primary tumours with an average size of 1450+/-370 mg and 9/14 (64.3%) produced metastasis. When inoculated subcutaneously, all 5 mice inoculated with control cells developed tumours from day 4, with an average size of 1471+/-544 mm(3) at 5 weeks after the inoculation; whereas Si-clone-2 cells produced no tumours in any of the 5 animals at any time-point, indicating the suppression occurred at the initiation stage. Our results suggest that C-FABP may be used as a potential prognostic marker to predict patient outcome and the increased C-FABP expression is a possible target to inhibit the malignant progression of prostate cancer cells.

The levels of Id-1 (inhibitor of DNA binding or inhibitor of cell differentiation) expression in a series of prostate cell lines and in an archival set of prostate tissues were examined. Western blot analysis showed that the level of Id-1 expressed in the androgen sensitive cell line LNCaP was 1.2 +/- 0.2 times that detected in the benign cell line PNT-2. The level of Id-1 increased further to 1.8 +/- 0.2 and 2.9 +/- 0.3 in the androgen-insensitive cell lines Du-145 and PC-3, respectively. Immunohistochemical staining with Id-1 antibody performed on 113 cases of prostate tissues showed that among the 7 normal cases, 6 (86%) stained either negative or weakly positive whereas only 1 (14%) stained moderately positive. Among the 36 benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) samples, 34 (94%) stained either negative or weakly positive; only 1 (3%) stained moderately and 1 (3%) stained strongly. Of the 70 carcinomas, 8 (11.5%) stained weakly, 34 (48.5%) stained moderately, and 28 (40%) stained strongly positive. The intensity of Id-1 staining in carcinomas was significantly stronger than that detected in the normal prostate and BPH (chi(2) test, P < .001) and it was significantly increased as the increasing malignancy of carcinomas measured by Gleason score (chi(2) test, P < .001). The intensity of Id-1 staining was partially associated with the levels of prostate-specific antigen, but not related to the level of androgen receptor. Kaplan-Meier survival curve analysis showed that, similar to Gleason scores, overexpression of Id-1 was significantly associated with the reduced length of patient survival (log-rank test, P = .01). These results suggest that Id-1 is a useful prognostic marker to predict the outcomes of patients with prostate cancer.

Anterior gradient-2 (AGR2) expression was examined in a series of prostate cell lines and in an archival set of prostate tissues. The relative levels of AGR2 expression in the malignant cell lines PC-3 and PC-3M were, respectively, 5.3+/-0.1 and 3.8+/-0.2 times that detected in the benign cell line PNT-2. Immunohistochemical staining in 106 cases showed that amongst seven normal cases, one (14.3%) was unstained, five (71.4%) stained weakly positive and one (14.3%) stained moderately positive. Amongst 34 benign prostate hyperplastic (BPH) cases, 12 (35.3%) were unstained, 18 (52.9%) stained weakly positive and four (11.8%) stained moderately positive. Amongst 65 carcinomas, three (4.6%) were unstained, 14 (21.5%) stained weakly positive, 19 (29.2%) stained moderately positive and 29 (44.9%) stained strongly positive. AGR2 expression in carcinomas was significantly higher than that in BPH (chi(2)-test, P<0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that increased AGR2 expression was significantly (log rank test, P=0.007) associated with reduced patient-survival time. Increased joint Gleason score (GS) was significantly (log rank test, P=0.001) associated with poor patient survival. However, neither prostate specific antigen (PSA) level, nor androgen receptor (AR) index, was significantly associated with patient-survival time. Increased AGR2 expression was significantly correlated with high GS (two-sided Fisher's exact test, P<0.001) and PSA levels (Mann-Whitney U-test, P=0.047), but not significantly related to the level of AR (Mann-Whitney U-test, P=0.286). These results suggest that increased AGR2 expression is a valuable prognostic factor to predict the clinical outcome of the prostate cancer patients.

To test the hypothesis that expression of osteopontin (OPN), an integrin-binding glycoprotein, can independently predict the potential aggressiveness of prostate cancer, the status of OPN expression in benign and malignant prostate cancer cell lines and tissues was analysed by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. Amongst the four prostate cell lines analysed, the level of OPN expressed in the benign PNT-2 cells was set at 1, the relative level of OPN expressed in the weakly malignant cell line LNCaP was increased to 1.5. In the highly malignant cell lines Du-145 and PC-3, the level of OPN expression was further increased to 2.9 and 4.4, respectively. An increased expression of OPN was also observed in the prostate tissue samples. When the level of OPN in normal tissue was set at 1, its level in benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) was similar at 0.99 +/- 0.2, whereas the OPN level in the highly malignant carcinoma tissue was greatly increased by nearly 6-fold to 5.9 +/- 0.3. Amongst the 116 cases examined immunocytochemically, of the 10 normal cases, 3 (30%) were unstained and 7 (70%) stained weakly positive (+). Amongst the 36 BPH samples, 32 (89%) stained weakly positive (+) and 4 (11%) were unstained (-). For the 70 carcinomas analysed, 31 (44%) stained strongly positive (+++), 20 (29%) stained moderately positive (++) and 19 (27%) stained weakly positive (+). These results showed that the level of OPN expressed between the normal and the BPH samples was not significantly different (Fisher's exact test, p = 0.16). However, in comparison to that in the BPH samples, the expression of OPN in the carcinoma tissues was significantly increased (Chi-square test, p < 0.0001). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that the increased level of OPN expression was significantly (n = 70, p = 0.03) associated with reduced survival time of the patients. The OPN expression was increased with the increasing Gleason scores of the carcinomas (Chi-square test, p < 0.001). The results in our study support our hypothesis and suggest that the increased OPN level may be involved in the malignant transformation of prostate epithelial cells and OPN expression level is an important determinant for patient survival., (2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc.)

The relationship between basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), receptors for bFGF and neoangiogenesis was investigated in 51 patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue, 26 of whom had metastatic disease in cervical lymph nodes. Vessels were demonstrated by immunocytochemical labelling for CD34 and expressed as raw counts and volume-weighted counts. bFGF protein and its receptors FGFR1(flg) and FGFR2(bek), were demonstrated using immunocytochemical labelling. In situ hybridisation for bFGF mRNA was performed using a 250-bp digoxigenin-labelled RNA probe. In normal epithelium, the expression of bFGF protein and mRNA was more intense in the basal layer, while receptors for bFGF were expressed more strongly in the superficial parts. In carcinomas, expression of bFGF was greater in the more poorly-differentiated cells, but showed no relation to the overall tumour differentiation. There was strong bFGF expression in tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes. The expression of bFGF receptors was variable, with FGFR2 being particularly high in areas of keratinisation. There were no consistent changes in bFGF or receptor expression between primary carcinomas and their lymph node metastases, and there was no correlation with measures of vascularity or tumour growth pattern. bFGF is synthesised by all squamous carcinomas and has the potential to modulate angiogenesis. However, these data suggest that changes in the expression of bFGF and its receptors are not related to the intensity of neoangiogenesis in lingual carcinomas or their nodal metastases.

The relationship between neoangiogenesis and prognosis was investigated in 51 patients with surgically resected squamous carcinomas of the tongue. Twenty-six patients had lymph node metastases treated by radical neck dissection. Potential methodological sources of variation in vascular counts were examined. Vessels were immunolabeled for CD34, and the vessel counts (VC)--as well as the vessel counts adjusted for tumor area (VV)--were obtained in the most vascular parts of the carcinomas. Vascular hot spots were distributed throughout the carcinomas. The VC per hot spot increased with increasing size of carcinoma, and was higher in the resected carcinoma than in the diagnostic biopsy in four of eight cases. VC was not related to the growth pattern of the carcinoma or to metastasis, but patients with nodal metastases tended to have a lower VV than those with no metastases (p = 0.049). The tumor-specific survival of the whole group was 59%, and patients with nodal metastases had a shorter survival than those without metastases (p = 0.008). Cox's proportional hazards model demonstrated that carcinomas with a low VC tended to have a good prognosis (p = 0.023). The results from this relatively small series of cases support the hypothesis that some measures of neoangiogenesis are independent predictors of the spread and prognosis of lingual carcinomas. The variations in methodology among different studies currently preclude an accurate assessment of the prognostic significance of neoangiogenesis.