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Craniopharyngioma: A Case Report and Comparative Galectin Histochemical Analysis

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Abstract

Craniopharyngioma is a rare benign tumour originating from Rathke's pouch. This paper reports a tumour case studied with a set of markers defining protein–carbohydrate recognition. Expression of endogenous lectins and their reactive glycoligands is under differentiation-dependent control in many cell types. These parameters can be related to the degree of cell differentiation in tumours. Therefore, the expression patterns of endogenous lectins, namely galectins-1, -3, and -7, in the craniopharyngioma case were determined. Galectins-1 and -3 were also used to reveal glycoconjugates in cells and extracellular matrices, an approach that has heretofore relied largely on plant lectins. The staining pattern of craniopharyngioma is compared with that of two other types of ectodermally derived tumours, namely basal and squamous cell carcinomas. Clusters of polygonal and flattened cells with morphological characteristics of differentiated cells in the craniopharyngioma and the majority of poorly differentiated cells in squamous cell carcinomas were reactive with galectin-3. No binding of this probe was observed in cells of basal cell carcinomas and the majority of craniopharyngioma cells. In view of the lack of accessible binding in the basal layer of normal squamous epithelia where proliferative cells (including stem cells) are located, galectin-3 binding could be used to distinguish basal from suprabasal cells of squamous epithelial cells.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1st Faculty of Medicine, Institute of Anatomy, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Plzák, Karel Smetana Jr. & Zuzana Holíková

  2. 1st Faculty of Medicine, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Plzák

  3. 3rd Faculty of Medicine, Department of Neurosurgery, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Pavel Haninec

  4. 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Center of Cell Therapy and Tissue Repair, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Karel Smetana Jr. & Zuzana Holíková

  5. 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Department of Dermatovenerology, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Zuzana Holíková

  6. Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ludwig-Maximilians-University, Institute of Physiological Chemistry, Munich, Germany

    Sabine André & Hans-Joachim Gabius

  7. Department of Dermatology, University of California, Davis, School of Medicine, Sacramento, CA, 95817, USA

    Ichiro Kuwabara & Fu-Tong Liu

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  1. Jan Plzák
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Plzák, J., Haninec, P., Smetana, K. et al. Craniopharyngioma: A Case Report and Comparative Galectin Histochemical Analysis. Histochem J 34, 117–122 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1020934329211

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