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pSlugS158 immunohistochemistry is a novel promising mitotic marker for FFPE samples: a pilot study

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Abstract

Slug is a transcription factor belonging to the slug/snail superfamily. The protein is involved in embryonic development and epithelial-mesenchymal transition of tumors. Slug is also under temporal regulation during cell cycle. Here, we examined relationship between pSlugS158 (site-specific phosphorylation) and the cell cycle, and checked whether its phosphorylation level reflects mitotic activity in tissue specimens. Cell cycle analysis was performed after cell synchronization. To evaluate pSlugS158 identifying mitotic figures, we performed immunohistochemistry (IHC) for pSlugS158 in various formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissues; in addition, mitotic counts were compared with those in sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin (HE) and IHC for PHH3, a mitotic marker. We found that the level of pSlugS158 protein increased specifically at M phase and decreased at the G1/S phases in vitro. In almost all tested tissues, nuclear stain of pSlugS158 was identified in the cell with mitotic figures. There was no significant difference in mitotic counts between HE- and pSlugS158-stained sections. In conclusion, pSlugS158 may be a novel and practical immunohistochemical marker for detecting mitotic figures in human tissues.

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All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korea government (MISP) (2020R1A5A2017476).

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Author notes

  1. Chang Gok Woo and Seung-Myoung Son contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pathology, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Korea

    Chang Gok Woo, Seung-Myoung Son & Ok-Jun Lee

  2. Department of Pathology, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungdae-ro 1, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, 28644, Korea

    Chang Gok Woo, Seung-Myoung Son, Young Hyun Lim & Ok-Jun Lee

  3. Department of Pathology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon, Korea

    Dakeun Lee

  4. Department of Biochemistry, College of Medicine, Chungbuk National University, Chungdae-ro 1, Seowon-gu, Cheongju, 28644, Korea

    Jung-Jin Park, Eung-Gook Kim & Eun-Young Shin

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  1. Chang Gok Woo
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  2. Seung-Myoung Son
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Contributions

Ok-Jun Lee, Eun-Young Shin, and Eung-Gook Kim conceived experiments. Chang Gok Woo, Seung-Myoung Son, Young Hyun Lim, Dakeun Lee, and Jung-Jin Park carried out experiments. Chang Gok Woo and Seung-Myoung Son analysed data. All authors were involved in writing the paper and had final approval of the submitted and published versions.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Eun-Young Shin or Ok-Jun Lee.

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The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Chungbuk National University Hospital (Cheongju, Republic of Korea, IRB No: 2018–11-029).

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Woo, C.G., Son, SM., Lim, Y.H. et al. pSlugS158 immunohistochemistry is a novel promising mitotic marker for FFPE samples: a pilot study. Virchows Arch 480, 449–457 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-021-03201-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00428-021-03201-7

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