Expression of Cyclooxygenase-2 and Embryonic Lethal Abnormal Vision-Like Protein HuR in Gallbladder Carcinoma. |
Sung Im Do, Gou Young Kim, Sung Jig Lim, Youn Wha Kim |
1Department of Pathology, Kyung Hee University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. kimyw@khu.ac.kr 2Department of Pathology, Kyung Hee East-West Neo Medical Center, Seoul, Korea. |
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ABSTRACT |
BACKGROUND: Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) is an enzyme that promotes proliferation of tumor cells. HuR is a member of the family of embryonic lethal abnormal vision-like proteins. Recent studies show that cytoplasmic HuR stabilizes the mRNA of COX-2 and regulates the expression of COX-2. Moreover, cytoplasmic HuR expression is associated with a poorer prognosis for patients with some cancers. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of and the relationship between COX-2 and HuR in gallbladder carcinoma.
METHODS: We analyzed COX-2 and HuR expression by immunohistochemical staining of 108 gallbladder carcinomas.
RESULTS: COX-2 expression and nuclear and cytoplasmic HuR expression were seen in, respectively, 61 (56.5%), 77 (71.3%), and 4 (3.7%) cases. COX-2 and nuclear HuR were simultaneously expressed in 44 of the 108 samples without any quantitative association between the levels of each.
COX-2 expression correlated with tumor stage, differentiation (based on histology), lymph node metastasis, perineural invasion, and survival. Nuclear and cytological expression of HuR did not correlate with any clinical parameters.
CONCLUSIONS: COX-2 expression but not HuR may play an important role in the prognosis of patients with gallbladder carcinoma. |
Key Words:
Gallbladder neoplasms; Cyclooxygenase 2; ELAV-like protein 1 |
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