Loss of heterozygosity on tuberous sclerosis complex genes in multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia

Multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia is a rare pulmonary manifestation of tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) that is a tumor suppressor gene disorder characterized by many hamartomas. A purported mechanism of hamartomatous proliferation in TSC is constitutive activation of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway dysregulated by a functional loss of TSC genes. Although multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia develops locally as self-limited, benign lesions, it is morphologically similar to the preinvasive lesion of pneumocytes that characterize atypical adenomatous hyperplasia or bronchioloalveolar carcinoma. Frequently both conditions include a loss of heterozygosity on TSC. The goal of this study was to determine whether multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia is neoplastic. Loss of heterozygosity on TSC genes and immunohistochemistry for mTOR-related proteins (phospho-mTOR, phospho-p70S6K, phospho-S6, and phospho-Akt) were analyzed in 42 lesions: 16 multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia (7 patients with TSC, 1 TSC not confirmed), 14 atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and 12 bronchioloalveolar carcinoma (9 and 12 patients, respectively). The results showed that at least one of two multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia lesions from each patient had loss of heterozygosity on TSC1 or TSC2 (15 or 50%) and were frequently immunopositive for phospho-mTOR (88%), phospho-p70S6K (100%), and phospho-S6 (100%) but not phospho-Akt (14%), an upstream regulatory protein of mTOR. Loss of heterozygosity of TSC was found in the preinvasive lesions of pneumocytes, equal to or less than multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia. In contrast, phospho-Akt was expressed in the preinvasive lesions of pneumocytes more frequently than multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia, but the other mTOR-related proteins were less frequently expressed in the former than in the latter. These outcomes suggest that functional loss of TSCs and consequent hyperphosphorylation of mTOR-related proteins in multifocal micronodular pneumocyte hyperplasia may cause its benign neoplastic proliferation of pneumocytes.