Histochemical differences of the lectin affinities of backbone polylactosamine structures carrying the ABO blood group antigens in papillary carcinoma and other types of thyroid neoplasm.

Abstract

Endo-beta-galactosidase from Escherichia freundii cleaves linear polylactosamine structure as follows: R-GlcNAc-beta 1-3Gal-beta 1-4GlcNAc-beta 1-R' + H2O-->R-GlcNAc-beta 1-3Gal + GlcNAc-beta 1-R'. Staining with Griffonia simplicifolia agglutinin II (GSA-II) following enzyme digestion reveals the distribution of R-GlcNac-beta 1-3Gal-beta 1-4GlcNAc-beta 1-R' structures in tissue sections. In this study, the procedure was applied to formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 26 cases of papillary carcinomas including 2 follicular variants, 8 follicular carcinomas, 7 adenomas, 1 anaplastic carcinoma and 1 medullary carcinoma in order to investigate whether different types of polyactosamine-containing structure are produced in these thyroid neoplasms. Simultaneously, the susceptibility of the ABH antigens expressed in these neoplastic cells to endo-beta-galactosidase digestion was examined. Most of the papillary carcinoma cells from all the individuals examined were strongly stained by GSA-II following enzyme digestion. Without enzyme digestion, little or no reactivity with GSA-II was observed. Among other types of neoplasms, only one case of follicular carcinoma exhibited reactivity with GSA-II following enzyme digestion. ABH antigens were expressed in 22 cases of papillary carcinomas, 2 adenomas, 5 follicular carcinomas and 1 anaplastic carcinoma, and their expression was dependent on the ABO blood group of the patients. Endo-beta-galactosidase digestion resulted in the elimination of these antigens not only in papillary carcinomas but also in other neoplasms.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

• Authors: M Yokota, N Ito, T Hirota, K Yane, O Tanaka, H Miyahara, T Matsunaga
• Journal: The Histochemical journal (Histochem J) Vol. 27 Issue 2 Pg. 139-47 (Feb 1995) ISSN: 0018-2214 [Print] Netherlands
• PMID: 7775198 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• ABO Blood-Group System
• Amino Sugars
• Antibodies, Monoclonal
• Antigens, Neoplasm
• Griffonia simplicifolia lectins
• Lectins
• Plant Lectins
• Polysaccharides
• polylactosamine

Topics

• ABO Blood-Group System (immunology)
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Amino Sugars (metabolism)
• Antibodies, Monoclonal
• Antigens, Neoplasm (chemistry)
• Carbohydrate Sequence
• Carcinoma, Papillary (metabolism)
• Female
• Humans
• Immunohistochemistry
• Lectins
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Paraffin Embedding
• Plant Lectins
• Polysaccharides (metabolism)
• Thyroid Neoplasms (metabolism)