Background
Gene silencing due to aberrant DNA methylation is a frequent event in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and also in hepatocellular adenoma (HCA). However, very little is known about epigenetic defects in fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC), a rare variant of hepatocellular carcinoma that displays distinct clinical and morphological features.Methodology/Principal Findings
We analyzed the methylation status of the APC, CDH1, cyclinD2, GSTπ1, hsa-mir-9-1, hsa-mir-9-2, and RASSF1A gene in a series of 15 FLC and paired normal liver tissue specimens by quantitative high-resolution pyrosequencing. Results were compared with common HCC arising in non-cirrhotic liver (n = 10). Frequent aberrant hypermethylation was found for the cyclinD2 (19%) and the RASSF1A (38%) gene as well as for the microRNA genes mir-9-1 (13%) and mir-9-2 (33%). In contrast to common HCC the APC and CDH1 (E-cadherin) genes were found devoid of any DNA methylation in FLC, whereas the GSTπ1 gene showed comparable DNA methylation in tumor and surrounding tissue at a moderate level. Changes in global DNA methylation level were measured by analyzing methylation status of the highly repetitive LINE-1 sequences. No evidence of global hypomethylation could be found in FLCs, whereas HCCs without cirrhosis showed a significant reduction in global methylation level as described previously.Conclusions
FLCs display frequent and distinct gene-specific hypermethylation in the absence of significant global hypomethylation indicating that these two epigenetic aberrations are induced by different pathways and that full-blown malignancy can develop in the absence of global loss of DNA methylation. Only quantitative DNA methylation detection methodology was able to identify these differences. 相似文献Background
Comprehensive spatial assessment of hormone receptor immunohistochemistry staining in digital whole slide images of breast cancer requires accurate detection of positive nuclei within biologically relevant regions of interest. Herein, we propose a combination of automated region labeling at low resolution and subsequent detailed tissue evaluation of subcellular structures in lobular structures adjacent to breast cancer, as a proof of concept for the approach to analyze estrogen and progesterone receptor expression in the spatial context of surrounding tissue.Methods
Routinely processed paraffin sections of hormone receptor-negative ductal invasive breast cancer were stained for estrogen and progesterone receptor by immunohistochemistry. Digital whole slides were analyzed using commercially available image analysis software for advanced object-based analysis, applying textural, relational, and geometrical features. Mammary gland lobules were targeted as regions of interest for analysis at subcellular level in relation to their distance from coherent tumor as neighboring relevant tissue compartment. Lobule detection quality was evaluated visually by a pathologist.Results
After rule set optimization in an estrogen receptor-stained training set, independent test sets (progesterone and estrogen receptor) showed acceptable detection quality in 33% of cases. Presence of disrupted lobular structures, either by brisk inflammatory infiltrate, or diffuse tumor infiltration, was common in cases with lower detection accuracy. Hormone receptor detection tended towards higher percentage of positively stained nuclei in lobules distant from the tumor border as compared to areas adjacent to the tumor. After adaptations of image analysis, corresponding evaluations were also feasible in hormone receptor positive breast cancer, with some limitations of automated separation of mammary epithelial cells from hormone receptor-positive tumor cells.Conclusions
As a proof of concept for object-oriented detection of steroid hormone receptors in their spatial context, we show that lobular structures can be classified based on texture-based image features, unless brisk inflammatory infiltration disrupts the normal morphological structure of the tubular gland epithelium. We consider this approach as prototypic for detection and spatial analysis of nuclear markers in defined regions of interest. We conclude that advanced image analysis at this level of complexity requires adaptation to the individual tumor phenotypes and morphological characteristics of the tumor environment.AP-2β is a new mammary epithelial differentiation marker and its expression is preferentially retained and enhanced in lobular carcinoma in situ and invasive lobular breast cancer. In normal breast epithelium AP-2β is expressed in a scattered subpopulation of luminal cells. So far, these cells have not been further characterized. Co-expression of AP-2β protein and luminal epithelium markers (GATA3, CK8/18), hormone receptors [estrogen receptor (ER), androgen receptor (AR)] and candidate stem cells markers (CK5/14, CD44) were assessed by double-immunofluorescence staining in normal mammary gland epithelium. The subpopulation of AP-2β-positive mammary epithelial cells showed an almost complete, superimposable co-expression with GATA3 and a peculiar intense, ring-like appearing immunoreactivity for CK8/18. Confocal immunofluorescence microscopy revealed an apicobasal staining for CK8/18 in AP-2β-positive cells, which was not seen in in AP-2β-negative cells. Furthermore, AP-2β-positive displayed a partial co-expression with ER and AR, but lacked expression of candidate stem cell markers CK5/14 and CD44. In summary, AP-2β is a new luminal mammary epithelial differentiation marker, which is expressed in the GATA3-positive subpopulation of luminal epithelial cells. These AP-2β-positive/GATA3-positive cells also show a peculiar CK8/18-expression which may indicate a previously unknown functionally specialized mammary epithelial cell population.
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