AIMS: To study the expression of bcl-2, bax and mcl-1 and caspases 3, 6 and 8 and apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty-seven pancreatic carcinomas were studied immunohistochemically with antibodies to bcl-2, mcl-1, bax and caspases 3, 6 and 8. Apoptosis was detected by the TUNEL method. bcl-2 and mcl-1 positivity was observed in 13% and 86% of the cases, while bax was observed in all of them. The bax immunoreactivity was weak in 30% of the tumours. Caspase 3, 6 and 8 immunoreactivity was observed in 80%, 80% and 74% of the cases, respectively. The staining was mainly cytoplasmic and diffuse, but sometimes also fragmented granular (mainly caspase 6) or membrane-associated (mainly caspase 8) staining was seen. The mean apoptotic index in pancreatic carcinomas was 0.69%. The apoptotic index in bcl-2 positive cases was lower (0.35%) than in cases showing no immunoreactivity (0.64%) (P = 0.013). The apoptotic index was higher in tumours with strong bax immunoreactivity (0.70%) than in the other cases (0.34%) (P = 0.002). There was no significant association between the apoptotic index and the expression of mcl-1 or caspases 3, 6 and 8. CONCLUSIONS: Both bcl-2 and bax influence the extent of apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma. The strong expression of caspases 3, 6 and 8 in pancreatic carcinoma is evidence of the activation of the apoptotic machinery in malignant cells in pancreatic carcinoma and shows that the genes of these proteins are often upregulated in them.
AIMS: To study the expression of bcl-2, bax and mcl-1 and caspases 3, 6 and 8 and apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma. METHODS AND RESULTS: Eighty-seven pancreatic carcinomas were studied immunohistochemically with antibodies to bcl-2, mcl-1, bax and caspases 3, 6 and 8. Apoptosis was detected by the TUNEL method. bcl-2 and mcl-1 positivity was observed in 13% and 86% of the cases, while bax was observed in all of them. The bax immunoreactivity was weak in 30% of the tumours. Caspase 3, 6 and 8 immunoreactivity was observed in 80%, 80% and 74% of the cases, respectively. The staining was mainly cytoplasmic and diffuse, but sometimes also fragmented granular (mainly caspase 6) or membrane-associated (mainly caspase 8) staining was seen. The mean apoptotic index in pancreatic carcinomas was 0.69%. The apoptotic index in bcl-2 positive cases was lower (0.35%) than in cases showing no immunoreactivity (0.64%) (P = 0.013). The apoptotic index was higher in tumours with strong bax immunoreactivity (0.70%) than in the other cases (0.34%) (P = 0.002). There was no significant association between the apoptotic index and the expression of mcl-1 or caspases 3, 6 and 8. CONCLUSIONS: Both bcl-2 and bax influence the extent of apoptosis in pancreatic carcinoma. The strong expression of caspases 3, 6 and 8 in pancreatic carcinoma is evidence of the activation of the apoptotic machinery in malignant cells in pancreatic carcinoma and shows that the genes of these proteins are often upregulated in them.
Authors: Danny C Hsu; Howard S Roth; Diana C West; Rachel C Botham; Chris J Novotny; Steven C Schmid; Paul J Hergenrother Journal: ACS Comb Sci Date: 2011-10-28 Impact factor: 3.784
Authors: Howard S Roth; Rachel C Botham; Steven C Schmid; Timothy M Fan; Levent Dirikolu; Paul J Hergenrother Journal: J Med Chem Date: 2015-04-20 Impact factor: 7.446
Authors: Heath A Elrod; Songqing Fan; Susan Muller; Georgia Z Chen; Lin Pan; Mourad Tighiouart; Dong M Shin; Fadlo R Khuri; Shi-Yong Sun Journal: PLoS One Date: 2010-08-16 Impact factor: 3.240
Authors: Jessie Peh; Timothy M Fan; Kathryn L Wycislo; Howard S Roth; Paul J Hergenrother Journal: Mol Cancer Ther Date: 2016-06-13 Impact factor: 6.261