| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Original Studies |
Klinik für Allgemeinchirurgie (C.H.-V., I.S., G.K., H.D.) and Klinik für Kinderheilkunde (K.B.), Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg, Halle; and Institut für Anatomie, Universität Leipzig (G.A.), and Abteilung Molekulare Innere Medizin, Medizinische Poliklinik, Universität Würzburg (C.S., J.K.), Würzburg, Germany
Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Dr. Cuong Hoang-Vu, AG Experimentelle and Chirurgische Onkologie, Klinik für Allgemeinchirurgie, Martin Luther Universität, Magdeburger Strasse 18, 06097 Halle/S, Germany. E-mail: hoang-vu{at}medizin.uni-halle.de
| Abstract |
|---|
|
|
|---|
| Introduction |
|---|
|
|
|---|
), which occurs or appears in three alternatively spliced
isoforms containing between three and five epidermal growth factor
(EGF)-like repeats, and CD97ß, a G protein-coupled
seven-transmembrane hormone receptor (2, 3, 4). It has been demonstrated
that CD97 has features of a multifunctional protein that may play a
role in signal transduction associated with the development or
establishment of the inflammatory processes (4). Semiquantitative
RT-PCR showed a correlation of CD97 messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA)
and cell surface CD97 protein expression levels in several thyroid
carcinoma cell lines (5). These distinct structural elements suggest a
dual ligand interaction for CD97: 1) binding to extracellular matrix
components or other cell surface molecules via the EGF-like domains,
and 2) a hormone receptor function mediated by the seven-span
transmembrane region. TSH is a glycoprotein consisting of two subunits, which binds TSH receptor and activates the adenylate cyclase and phospholipase C pathways. TSH receptor belongs to a class of G protein-coupled cell membrane receptors that have extracellular domains that bind the ligand, intracellular domains that activate G proteins, and a transmembrane region that links the two domains and traverses the cell membrane seven times (seven-span transmembrane region) (6; for review, see Ref. 7).
All-trans retinoic acid (RA), an agent with well characterized differentiation-inducing properties, is able to induce intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (8), alkaline phosphatase, and type 1 iodothyronine-5'-deiodinase in thyroid carcinoma cells (9). The redifferentiating effects of RA are confined to at least partly differentiated thyroid cancers and are not seen in anaplastic thyroid cancer (10). In vitro experiments have shown that RA down-regulates sodium iodide symporter (NIS) mRNA and iodide uptake in normal, nontransformed thyrocytes of rats, but up-regulates NIS mRNA in the human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC-133 (11). In some patients with nonaccumulating thyroid tumors or metastases, RA induces iodide uptake (12).
Several models have been proposed to understand the evolution of cell and tumor biology of thyroid cancer. To date, three different forms of malignant thyroid cancer (follicular, papillary, and anaplastic form) can be distinguished that overlap in part with respect to their tumor markers or pathogenesis. Current treatment protocols using radioiodine, surgical thyroidectomy, or TSH-suppressive T4 therapy fail in a considerable number of thyroid cancers, and external radiation and chemotherapy are rather ineffective compared to their effects on other cancers.
The aim of the present investigation was to study whether CD97 expression would serve as a marker of dedifferentiation in human thyroid tumors and to study the effects of factors regulating thyroid growth and differentiation, such as TSH, forskolin, phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), EGF, and insulin, as well as RA for the expression of CD97 protein in monolayers of the human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC-133.
| Materials and Methods |
|---|
|
|
|---|
The studies involving the use of human tissues described in this paper were approved by the local committees of medical ethics, and all patients gave written consent.
Thyroid tissues
Thyroid tissue was obtained from patients undergoing surgery for thyroid carcinomas (differentiated, n = 15; undifferentiated, n = 14). In one patient we studied the normal thyroid tissue, the primary tumor, and a lymph node metastasis. Tissues from benign diffuse goiter and normal thyroid tissue obtained at surgery for primary hyperparathyroidism (n = 12) served as a control. Histological diagnoses and the clinical classification (TNM) including tumor stages (T), regional lymph node metastases (N), and distant metastases (M) at the time of surgery, as well as postoperative histopathological classification (pTNM) were determined for each specimen by the Institute of Pathology, Martin Luther Universität (Halle, Germany).
Cell culture and treatments
The human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC-133, supplied by P. Goretzki (Düsseldorf, Germany), was established from the primary tumor of a follicular thyroid carcinoma, characterized by expressing human thyroglobulin (13). Cells were cultured in DMEM-Hams F-12 medium and 10% FCS and grown on coverslips for direct immunostaining and microscopy. Medium was changed every 34 days. The confluent cells were cultured in serum-free medium for 24 h, then cells were incubated with or without 1 µmol/L RA (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) for 72 h. After 24 h in RA- and serum-free medium, cells were stimulated with recombinant human TSH (100 µU/mL; Genzyme, Cambridge, MA), forskolin (10-5 mol/L), EGF (5 ng/mL; Sigma Chemical Co.), PMA (10 ng/mL; Sigma Chemical Co.), or insulin (5 ng/mL; Sigma Chemical Co.) for 72 h.
CD97 immunostaining and evaluation
Surgical specimens of thyroid tissues were snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored at -80 C. Frozen sections were cut at 7 µm and fixed in ice-cold methanol for 10 min followed by a short rinse in 0.2 mol/L PBS. Coverslips and frozen sections were prepared for immunohistochemical staining using the monoclonal antibody BL-Ac/F2 after incubation sequences as described previously (14). The specificity of the immunostaining was checked by omission of single steps in the immunochemical protocol and replacement of the primary antibody with nonimmune serum.
The immunoreactivity was evaluated semiquantitatively using a light microscope (Axioplan, Zeiss, Jena, Germany) by four independent investigators (C.H.-V., K.B., G.K., and I.S.) who were blinded to the histological results. Four or five sections of tumor tissue from each patient and four coverslips from each treatment (see Cell culture and treatment) were stained at the same time. Tissue from a patient with a dedifferentiated thyroid tumor was used for each staining procedure as a positive control. CD97 immunoreactivities of tumor tissue and tumor cells were compared to the positive control values, and the number of positive cells was evaluated, ranging from 0 to +++ (+, <30% positive cells; ++, 3070% positive cells; +++, >70% positive cells).
Cell proliferation test with 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT)
Five thousand cells were cultured with DMEM-Hams F-12 medium in 96-well plates. After 24 h, cells were incubated with or without RA for 72 h, followed by a 72-h stimulation with TSH, EGF, forskolin, PMA, and insulin in the absence of RA. Cells were then stained with MTT for 2 h at 37 C and afterward incubated for 30 min with 40 mmol/L HCl in isopropanol at 37 C. A colored formazan salt develops in the mitochondria of living cells. Optical density was measured at 540 nm with an Elisa reader (SLT, Germany). All determinations were performed in quadruplicate.
Statistical analysis
The differences in the number of positive stained cells were tested for significance by the proportional t test, and the differences between groups in the MTT test were determined using the Mann-Whitney-Wilcoxon test (U test).
| Results |
|---|
|
|
|---|
In all normal thyroid tissues, no immunoreactivity of CD97 was
found. In differentiated thyroid tumors, the CD97 antigen was not
detected in 6, was expressed weakly in 7, and was expressed moderately
in 2 tumors (Fig. 1
and Table 1
). In 13 of 14 undifferentiated thyroid
tumors, the immunostaining of CD97 was strongly positive (Fig. 1
and
Table 1
). However, in one undifferentiated anaplastic thyroid tumor,
immunostaining for CD97 was not detected, and Tg was weakly expressed
(data not shown). All six of the CD97-negative differentiated tumors
were identified as pT1 (tumor diameter <1 cm), 2 with weakly positive
staining (+) as pT2 (tumor diameters between 14 cm). All anaplastic
primary tumors were classified as pT34 tumors (tumor diameter >4 cm
or cervical tumor invasion). The CD97 immunoreactivity increased with
progression to the pT3pT4 stage (Fig. 2
). Patients with weakly positive or
negative CD97 immunoreactivity had neither nodal nor distant metastases
and were classified as N0/M0 (n = 14). Distant metastases were
present in 1 patient, and nodal metastases were present in 4 patients
with strong staining for CD97 (+++, M1 and N1, respectively). In the
patient with available primary tumor tissue, a lymph node metastasis,
and adjacent normal thyroid tissue, the CD97 immunoreactivity was
almost undetectable in the normal thyroid, but was strongly positive in
the primary tumor and the nodal metastases (Fig. 3
).
|
|
|
|
Approximately 50% of FTC-133 cells expressed the CD97 protein
under basal culture conditions. No differences were found in CD97
immunoreactivity after TSH, forskolin, and insulin treatment compared
to control values. EGF treatment led to a significant increase in CD97
immunostaining (
90%), whereas PMA slightly decreased the
immunoreactivity of CD97 (
30%; Fig. 4
).
|
MTT test evaluation revealed that RA treatment led to a decrease
in the total cell number of about 18% after 24 h, 25% after
48 h (P < 0.05), and 33% after 72 h
(P < 0.01) compared with the untreated control value.
The number of CD97-positive cells was not changed after 24-h RA
treatment, but decreased from 50% to 42% after 48 h and to 30%
after 72 h (P < 0.01) under basal conditions.
TSH, forskolin, PMA, and insulin showed no additional effect after
pretreatment with RA during the experimental period, whereas EGF
treatment led to an insignificant increase in the number of positive
cells (from
30% to
40%) after 72-h pretreatment with RA
compared to the control value (Fig. 5
).
|
| Discussion |
|---|
|
|
|---|
Concerning the structure of CD97, the seven-transmembrane region classifies CD97 within the secretin receptor superfamily. The extracellular region of CD97 contains EGF-like domains and a single RDG motif, which is known as a potential recognition sequence of integrins (2) and thereby possesses structural similarities to extracellular matrix proteins. It can be speculated that the dual structure and function of CD97 facilitate the adhesion and simultaneously contribute to a growth advantage of the cancer cells. CD97 might mediate tumor cell attachment, whereas activation of cAMP and/or protein kinase C pathways through the seven-transmembrane receptor domain might promote deregulated growth and clonal expansion of the thyroid carcinoma cells. Our data showed that protein kinase C activation by PMA via the phospholipase C signaling pathway led to down-regulation of CD97 protein expression in thyroid tumor cells. There might exist an autoregulation loop between PKC activation and CD97 expression.
The agents that influenced CD97 expression on the cell surface in vitro were EGF and PMA. In contrast, TSH and forskolin as well as insulin, which have been shown to affect a multitude of cellular functions in human thyrocytes and carcinoma cell lines (15), had no effect on CD97 expression. Our data are further supported by our previous finding that EGF, which stimulates the growth and invasion of differentiated thyroid carcinoma cells (15), also up-regulated CD97 in these cells (16). The reduction of cell number after RA stimulation for 72 h might indicate the induction of apoptosis and/or necrosis in this cell line. In acute promyelocytic leukemia, Tomizuka et al. have shown that apoptosis-related genes, such as CD95 (Fas/Apo-1), are stimulated by RA treatment in vivo, and fresh acute promyelocytic leukemia cells expressed CD95 after the addition of RA in vitro (17). Our preliminary data showed that RA treatment induced the expression of CD95 protein by stimulating its translation in the follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC-236 (18). RA not only acts on the Fas/Fas ligand system but also induces iodide uptake in patients with nonaccumulating thyroid tumors (12) and up-regulates NIS mRNA in the human follicular thyroid carcinoma cell line FTC-133 in vitro (11). In contrast, RA down-regulates NIS mRNA and iodide uptake in normal, nontransformed thyrocytes of rats (11), but RA also induces retinoid receptors and alters the pattern of RA receptor subtypes expressed along with modulation of several other RA-responsive gene products (19). Therefore, putative ligand-dependent signaling by CD97 may convey additional regulatory pathways to transformed thyrocytes, which frequently lose control by the thyroid-specific TSH receptor-adenylate cyclase signal transduction pathway. Expression of TSH receptor is lost in many thyroid tumors (20), which then might not respond to TSH-suppressive T4 therapy. Therefore, RA could be useful for a differentiation therapy protocol in selected thyroid carcinoma not responding to T4 therapy or lacking radioiodide uptake.
In summary, our data, obtained from a limited number of differentiated and undifferentiated thyroid carcinomas, have shown that strong immunostaining for CD-97 was associated with the aggressiveness and lymph node involvement of these tumors. The effects of RA treatment of follicular thyroid carcinoma cells, FTC-133, suggest that RA might be able to modulate invasiveness and aggressiveness in thyroid carcinoma by inducing the expression of differentiation markers and by suppressing dedifferentiation markers, such as CD97.
| Acknowledgments |
|---|
| Footnotes |
|---|
Received September 22, 1998.
Revised December 10, 1998.
Accepted December 17, 1998.
| References |
|---|
|
|
|---|
This article has been cited by other articles:
![]() |
R. Elisei, A. Vivaldi, L. Agate, R. Ciampi, E. Molinaro, P. Piampiani, C. Romei, P. Faviana, F. Basolo, P. Miccoli, et al. All-Trans-Retinoic Acid Treatment Inhibits the Growth of Retinoic Acid Receptor {beta} Messenger Ribonucleic Acid Expressing Thyroid Cancer Cell Lines but Does Not Reinduce the Expression of Thyroid-Specific Genes J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., April 1, 2005; 90(4): 2403 - 2411. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Steinert, M. Wobus, C. Boltze, A. Schutz, M. Wahlbuhl, J. Hamann, and G. Aust Expression and Regulation of CD97 in Colorectal Carcinoma Cell Lines and Tumor Tissues Am. J. Pathol., November 1, 2002; 161(5): 1657 - 1667. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
![]() |
M. Stacey, G.-W. Chang, S. L. Sanos, L. R. Chittenden, L. Stubbs, S. Gordon, and H.-H. Lin EMR4, a Novel Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF)-TM7 Molecule Up-regulated in Activated Mouse Macrophages, Binds to a Putative Cellular Ligand on B Lymphoma Cell Line A20 J. Biol. Chem., August 2, 2002; 277(32): 29283 - 29293. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
| Endocrinology | Endocrine Reviews | J. Clin. End. & Metab. |
| Molecular Endocrinology | Recent Prog. Horm. Res. | All Endocrine Journals |