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Zonula Occludens-1, Occludin, and E-cadherin Protein Expression in Biliary Tract Cancers

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Pathology & Oncology Research

Abstract

The incidence of cholangiocarcinomas originating from intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts, as well as of gallbladder carcinoma is increasing worldwide. The malignant transformation of biliary epithelia involves profound alterations of proteins in the intercellular junctions, among others zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1), occludin, and E-cadherin. Each plays important role in the maintenance of epithelial cell polarity and regulation of cell growth and differentiation. Our aim was to investigate ZO-1, occludin, and E-cadherin immunohistochemical reactions in tissue microarray blocks containing 57 normal and 62 neoplastic biliary tract samples. We demonstrated that the tight junction components ZO-1, occludin, and E-cadherin are downregulated in carcinomas arising from various compartments of the biliary tract (normal intrahepatic and extrahepatic bile ducts, gallbladder) as compared with their normal sites of origin. These results were confirmed by discriminant analysis yielding clear separation of the three normal sample groups from carcinomas in the corresponding locations.

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Abbreviations

CCCs:

Cholangiocarcinomas

GBCs:

gallbladder carcinomas

EBDC:

extrahepatic bile duct cancers

IBDC:

intrahepatic bile duct cancers

AJ:

adherens junctions

TJ:

tight junctions

ZO-1:

zonula occludens-1

EMT:

epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition

FFPE:

formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded

TMA:

Tissue Micro-Array

NIBD:

normal intrahepatic bile duct

NEBD:

normal extrahepatic bile duct

NGB:

normal gall bladder

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Acknowledgements

Authors wish to thank Mrs Magdolna Pekár and Mrs Erzsébet Azumah for preparing the TMAs and the immunohistochemical reactions and Mrs Elvira Kale-Rigo for the careful reading and correction of the manuscript.

This work was supported by Grant 75468 from the Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA).

Conflict of interest statement

The authors of the present study confirm that there is no conflict of interest to be declared.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 2nd Department of Pathology, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 93, H-1091, Budapest, Hungary

    Zsuzsanna Németh, Attila Marcell Szász, Áron Somorácz, Péter Tátrai, Júlia Németh, Hajnalka Győrffy, András Kiss & Zsuzsa Schaff

  2. 1st Department of Surgery, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary

    Attila Szíjártó & Péter Kupcsulik

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  1. Zsuzsanna Németh
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  2. Attila Marcell Szász
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Correspondence to Zsuzsa Schaff.

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Németh and Szász contributed equally to this work

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Németh, Z., Szász, A.M., Somorácz, Á. et al. Zonula Occludens-1, Occludin, and E-cadherin Protein Expression in Biliary Tract Cancers. Pathol. Oncol. Res. 15, 533–539 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-009-9150-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12253-009-9150-4

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