Urological Research

, Volume 31, Issue 4, pp 272–275 | Cite as

The expression of bcl-2 and bcl-6 protein in normal and malignant transitional epithelium

  • Zhenhua Lin
  • Hankyeom Kim
  • Hongseok Park
  • Youngsik Kim
  • Jun Cheon
  • Insun Kim
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

The bcl-2 proto-oncogene plays a key role in cell longevity by preventing apoptosis. Bcl-2 is important in developing and maintaining the normal function of lymphoid and epithelial tissues. The bcl-6 protein is a 96 kDa nuclear protein selectively expressed in mature B cells within normal germinal centers as well as in their transformed counterparts in diffuse large B cell lymphoma. Recently, the bcl-6 protein has also been reported to be expressed in normal skin and epidermal neoplasms. In this study, 47 cases of transitional cell carcinomas (TCCs) were immunohistochemically studied for bcl-2 and bcl-6 protein expression. The results showed that bcl-2 was expressed only on basal layer cells, whereas bcl-6 expression was restricted to the superficial layers in the normal transitional epithelium. Von Brunn's nests showed strong immunostaining to bcl-2, but were negative to bcl-6. Among 47 TCCs, 15 (32.6%) and 29 (61.7%) cases were positive for bcl-2 and bcl-6, respectively. Compared with the normal transitional epithelium, the expression of bcl-2 was significantly decreased, whereas bcl-6 expression was significantly increased in TCCs. Additionally, the strong expression of bcl-6 had a positive correlation with the histopathologic grade of TCC. In conclusion, bcl-2 and bcl-6 proteins may play a role in the pathogenesis of TCCs, and bcl-6 expression reflects histopathologic grade.

Keywords

Bcl-2 Bcl-6 Immunohistochemistry Transitional cell carcinoma 
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Notes

Acknowledgement

Financial support was obtained from Brain Korea 21 Task Force.

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Copyright information

© Springer-Verlag 2003

Authors and Affiliations

  • Zhenhua Lin
    • 1
  • Hankyeom Kim
    • 1
  • Hongseok Park
    • 1
  • Youngsik Kim
    • 1
  • Jun Cheon
    • 1
  • Insun Kim
    • 1
  1. 1.Department of Pathology and UrologyKorea University Medicine CollegeSungbuk GuKorea

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