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Expression of Activated Mapk, AKT and C‐Kit in Melanocytic Lesions
Author(s) -
Bengana C.,
Diwan A.H.,
Kim K.B.,
Zhang P.S.,
Prieto V.G.
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
journal of cutaneous pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.597
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1600-0560
pISSN - 0303-6987
DOI - 10.1111/j.0303-6987.2005.0320s.x
Subject(s) - immunohistochemistry , tissue microarray , melanoma , pathology , medicine , nevus , protein kinase b , mapk/erk pathway , anatomical pathology , cancer research , biology , signal transduction , biochemistry
Background: MAPK, AKT, and c‐Kit are major signaling molecules. This study evaluates the expression of the activated forms of these molecules in melanocytic lesions. Design: Tissue microarrays were constructed using formalin‐fixed, paraffin‐embedded archival tissue from 14 benign nevi (BN), 16 dysplastic nevi (DN), 18 malignant melanomas (MM), and 25 metastatic malignant melanomas (MMM). Two control cases (nevus and melanoma) were included in all three microarray blocks. Immunohistochemical analysis of p‐MAPK, p‐AKT and p‐c‐kit was performed using standard technique. Both the intensity and the number of labeled cells were recorded in a semiquantitative fashion. Results were analyzed using Chi‐square test, with p Results: c‐kit expression was highest in BN compared to DN, MM and MMM that showed similar expression. Among MMM, the visceral metastases had the strongest c‐kit expression. p‐AKT showed decreased expression with progression of the melanocytic lesions. The differences for p‐c‐kit and p‐AKT were highly significant (0.04 and 0.0001 respectively). There was no statistically significant difference in expression of p‐MAPK. Conclusion: Since the observed changes apply to the activated forms of AKT and c‐kit these molecules are likely involved in melanoma progression. These findings may help determine the applicability of targeted therapies such as gleevec.