Immunohistochemical analysis of β-tubulin isotypes in human prostate carcinoma and benign prostatic hypertrophy

✍ Scribed by Ranganathan, Sulabha; Salazar, Hernando; Benetatos, Christopher A.; Hudes, Gary R.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 309 KB
• Volume: 30
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0270-4137
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0045(19970301)30:4<263::aid-pros6>3.0.co;2-m

✦ Synopsis

Background:

Beta-tubulin, the intracellular target of several antimicrotubule agents, is encoded by at least six genes and exists as multiple isotypes with tissue-specific expression. previous in vitro studies indicated that tubulin isotype composition may affect polymerization properties, dynamics, and sensitivity to drugs.

Methods:

To investigate the isotype composition of beta-tubulin in human prostate, tissues were collected from 26 patients after radical prostatectomy and sections were stained with isotype-specific antibodies.

Results:

Beta iv tubulin is the predominant isotype in benign prostatic hyperplasia (bph) and adenocarcinoma, showing significantly stronger immunohistochemical expression than beta ii and beta iii, particularly in gleason's grade 3 and 4 cancers. staining for the beta ii isotype was invariably weak and often absent in bph and normal glands. there was a marked increase in beta ii isotype stain from bph to cancer in 77% of the patients, suggesting that the expression of this isotype is related to malignant status.

Conclusions:

The beta ii tubulin isotype is a potential marker for prostate adenocarcinoma. the possibility that tumor beta-tubulin isotype composition may effect the response to antimicrotubule drug therapy in prostate cancer and other tumors merit investigation.