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Correlation analysis of nuclear morphology, cytokeratin and Ki ‐67 expression of urothelial carcinoma cells
Author(s) -
Shuto Masayo,
Warigaya Kenji,
Watanabe Hiroshi,
Shimizu Michio,
Fukuda Toshio,
Murata Shinichi
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
pathology international
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1827
pISSN - 1320-5463
DOI - 10.1111/pin.12066
Subject(s) - cytokeratin , pathology , ki 67 , urothelial carcinoma , morphology (biology) , immunohistochemistry , biology , chemistry , medicine , cancer , genetics , bladder cancer
We aimed to delineate the morphogenesis of aberrant nuclear features of urothelial carcinoma ( UC ) cells in association with cytokeratin ( CK ) expression patterns and cell proliferation activity. Correlation analysis of the nuclear area by morphometry and the expression patterns of CK 5, CK 20 and Ki ‐67 by triple immunofluorescence analysis was applied to 1699 cells from five low‐grade and seven high‐grade cases of UC . The majority of UC cells showed aberrant cellular differentiation represented by abnormal CK expression patterns of CK 5(+)/ CK 20(+) (40.5%) or CK 5(−)/ CK 20(+) (56.0%). CK 5(+)/ CK 20(−) cells, a phenotype of cancer stem/progenitor cells, represented a very small population (1.9%) and showed a low proliferation activity. Ki ‐67(+) cells showed a significantly different CK expression pattern compared with that of Ki ‐67(−) cells. The nuclear areas of CK 5(−)/ CK 20(+) cells (71.3 ± 25.9 μm 2 ) were significantly larger than those of CK 5(+)/ CK 20(+) cells (66.6 ± 25.5 μm 2 ). Negativity for CK 5 was related to the grade of UC and an increased number of CK 5(−)/ CK 20(+)/ Ki ‐67(+) cells was related to a higher malignant potential. We conclude the nuclear morphology is related to cell differentiation represented by CK expression and cell proliferative activity.