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

• Published in: The Histochemical journal 1995-02, Vol.27 (2), p.139-147
• Main Authors: Yokota, M, Ito, N, Hirota, T, Yane, K, Tanaka, O, Miyahara, H, Matsunaga, T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 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
• ISSN: 0018-2214; 1573-6865
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00243909

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.