An autopsy case of malignant mesothelioma with osseous and cartilaginous differentiation: bone morphogenetic protein-2 in mesothelial cells and its tumor.

An autopsy case of biphasic malignant mesothelioma with osseous and cartilaginous differentiation diffusely involving the peritoneal cavity was confirmed by light microscopic histochemistry, immunohistochemistry, and electron microscopy. A reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction using specific primers for bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) revealed weak positive transcript in normal mesothelial cells and up-regulated expression around bone-forming malignant mesothelioma tissue. However, BMP-2 protein expression was detected only in the marginal zone of bone trabeculae and spindle-shaped mesothelioma cells distributed around bone trabeculae in tumor tissue. The distribution of type IV collagen in tumor tissue was in accordance with the BMP-2 expression. Normal mesothelial cells and tumor cells expressed BMP-2 mRNA, but the BMP-2 protein expression was restricted to the bone-forming area in the malignant mesothelioma.