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β‐Catenin expression in the transitional cell zone of pilomatricoma
Author(s) -
Park SW.,
Suh KS.,
Wang HY.,
Kim ST.,
Sung HS.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2001.04433.x
Subject(s) - pilomatricoma , basophilic , carcinogenesis , wnt signaling pathway , immunohistochemistry , pilomatrixoma , biology , catenin , beta catenin , hair follicle , pathology , cancer research , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , signal transduction , immunology , cancer , genetics
Background β‐Catenin, a participant in the Wnt pathway, has been shown to play an important role in the morphogenesis of hair follicles and the formation of hair follicle‐related tumours, including pilomatricomas. It has been observed that at least 75% of human pilomatricomas possess activating mutations in β‐catenin. These findings suggested that β‐catenin plays an important role in the tumorigenesis of pilomatricomas. However, the pattern of β‐catenin expression in pilomatricoma tissues is still unclear. Objectives To examine the expression of β‐catenin in human pilomatricomas by immunohistochemical staining. Methods Twenty‐six formalin‐fixed and paraffin‐embedded samples of pilomatricoma tissue were studied. Results Most transitional cells of pilomatricoma expressed β‐catenin strongly, but the basophilic cells and shadow cells did not. β‐Catenin showed a prominent membranous immunoreactivity and a small amount of condensed cytoplasmic staining, but there was definitely no evidence of nuclear positivity. Conclusions These findings imply that β‐catenin is primarily involved in cell–cell adhesion rather than cellular proliferation during pilomatricoma pathogenesis, and suggest that if β‐catenin is involved in pilomatricoma tumorigenesis and tumour growth, it plays an indirect role.