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The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism Vol. 85, No. 10 3882-3891
Copyright © 2000 by The Endocrine Society


Original Studies

Subcellular Distribution of Somatostatin sst2A Receptors in Human Tumors of the Nervous and Neuroendocrine Systems: Membranous Versus Intracellular Location1

Jean Claude Reubi, Beatrice Waser, Qisheng Liu, Jean A. Laissue and Agnes Schonbrunn

Division of Cell Biology and Experimental Cancer Research (J.C.R., B.W., J.A.L.), Institute of Pathology, University of Berne, CH-3010 Berne, Switzerland; and Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology (Q.L., A.S.), University of Texas Houston Medical School, Houston, Texas

Address correspondence and requests for reprints to: Jean Claude Reubi, M.D., Division of Cell Biology and Experimental Cancer Research, Institute of Pathology, University of Berne, Murtenstrasse 31, P.O. Box 62, CH-3010, Berne, Switzerland. E-mail: reubi{at}patho.unibe.ch


    Abstract
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
The distribution of the sst2A receptor was investigated, using immunohistochemistry, with the specific antipeptide antibody R2–88, in a total of 120 tumors of the nervous and the neuroendocrine systems, including small-cell lung carcinomas, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, pheochromocytomas, and paragangliomas. The great majority of the tumor samples, frozen or formalin-fixed, showed a positive immunohistochemical staining with R2–88, and an excellent correlation with receptor autoradiography using 125I[Tyr3]-octreotide. Whereas small-cell lung carcinomas and medulloblastomas had a predominantly plasma membrane staining, pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas had variable ratios of cell surface and intracellular staining. Strikingly, a preferentially cytoplasmic staining was seen in tumors with a high level of somatostatin gene expression, whereas a more plasma membranous staining was seen in tumors lacking somatostatin messenger RNA. Specificity of both the plasma membrane and the cytoplasmic staining pattern was confirmed in immunoblots, which showed the immunoreactive receptor migrating as a characteristic 70-kDa broad band. In both immunohistochemical and immunoblotting experiments, staining was abolished by antibody blockade with 100 nM antigen peptide. These results describe, for the first time, the localization of the sst2A receptor protein in human small-cell lung carcinomas, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, and paragangliomas. Moreover, it is the first report investigating possible causes for distinct subcellular localizations of sst2A in human tissues. We show that the subcellular distribution of the receptor may be dependent on the surrounding somatostatin concentration, consistent with both the known effect of somatostatin to cause sst2A receptor internalization and an autocrine regulation of tumors by the peptide they produce. Moreover, our demonstration that the sst2A receptor can be identified in this group of tumors using simple immunohistochemical methods in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded material opens numerous diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic opportunities.


    Introduction
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
IN THE LAST several years, somatostatin receptors have attracted wide interest because of the development of novel clinical applications related to their overexpression in selected tumor types (1, 2). Though there are, at present, five known somatostatin receptor subtypes (3, 4) (which have been identified, in variable amounts, not only in normal tissues but also in the various somatostatin receptor-positive tumors), clinicians have devoted particular attention to the subtype sst2 for several reasons. First, sst2 receptor messenger RNA (mRNA) is frequently found in human tumor tissues (5, 6, 7, 8, 9). Second, all the commercially available somatostatin analogs used for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, e.g. octreotide, have a preferentially high affinity for sst2, although they also bind sst3 and sst5 (10).

Many studies have used in vitro receptor autoradiography, to show an often abundant somatostatin receptor expression in selected human tumors of nervous and neuroendocrine systems, such as small-cell lung carcinoma (11, 12), neuroblastoma (13, 14), medulloblastoma (15, 16, 17), and paragangliomas and pheochromocytomas (18, 19). However, these studies do not provide definitive information about the sst receptor subtype protein responsible for the binding activity. Moreover, if binding activity is not detected, these studies do not indicate whether the absence of binding is attributable to the lack of receptor protein or to desensitized or inactivated receptor. Numerous studies have also investigated the sst mRNA content of such tumors, by PCR or in situ hybridization, and have often found an abundance of sst2 mRNA (17, 18, 20, 21, 22). Because, however, recent reports have suggested a lack of parallelism between sst2 mRNA and receptor protein in the case of some human tumors (23), mRNA detection alone is unlikely to be sufficient to assess the presence of the receptor protein. It is the receptor protein and not the mRNA that is the molecular target for all presently available clinical applications of somatostatin in tumors (1, 24).

The means of identifying, in tumors, sst receptor subtypes based on protein rather than on mRNA detection has become available with the development of specific antibodies against the various sst subtypes (3, 25, 26, 27). Though there are reports on sst2 detection with immunohistochemistry in some neuroendocrine tumors, including primarily gastrointestinal neuroendocrine tumors (carcinoids and islet cell tumors) (25, 26, 28) and pheochromocytomas (28, 29), very little information exists for other neuroendocrine tumors. For instance, we lack information on sst2 receptor protein in such tumors as SCLC, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, and paragangliomas. Moreover, no studies have yet investigated, in detail, the subcellular distribution of sst2 and its regulation in human tumors.

Hence, the aim of the present study was to evaluate sst2A receptor protein in a representative number of SCLC, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, paragangliomas, and pheochromocytomas. We have determined the distribution of sst2A receptors, by immunohistochemistry on cryostat and formalin-fixed sections, and compared the results with 125I-[Tyr3]octreotide binding as quantitated by in vitro receptor autoradiography in subsequent sections. Moreover, we have studied the subcellular distribution of sst2A and searched for conditions favoring an internalized state vs. a membrane-bound state. Our results indicate that the approach described and validated here will be of diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic value for patients bearing these types of tumors.


    Materials and Methods
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Selection of material

Two types of tumor samples were taken for this study: 1) selected frozen samples from 68 different tumors, including 7 small-cell lung carcinomas, 11 medulloblastomas, 15 neuroblastomas, 15 paragangliomas, and 20 pheochromocytomas (Table 1Go) (they were all characterized for their somatostatin receptor content by receptor autoradiography using the sst2-preferring 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide; moreover, 18 pheochromocytomas were tested for their content of somatostatin mRNA); 2) unselected formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded archival material, including 50 tumors (namely 18 small-cell lung carcinomas, 8 medulloblastomas, 6 neuroblastomas, and 18 pheochromocytomas). In addition, 2 frozen gastroenteropancreatic tumor samples, one somatostatinoma, and 1 carcinoid were included for control purposes.


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Table 1. Somatostatin receptors in tumors of the nervous and neuroendocrine systems. Comparison between immunohistochemistry using R2-88 and receptor autoradiography (ARG) using 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide on cryostat sections

 
Immunohistochemical evaluation of the sst2A antibody R2–88

All frozen and formalin-fixed samples were evaluated immunohistochemically with R2–88. The R2–88 rabbit polyclonal antibody, generated against a unique sequence located in the C-terminal tail of the sst2A receptor, was used as primary antibody (30). Biochemical and immunohistochemical characterization of the antibody have been reported elsewhere (30, 31). R2–88 immunohistochemistry was essentially performed as described previously (26).

Frozen tissues. Ten-micrometer-thick sections were cut on a cryostat (Leitz, Rockleigh, NJ). The sections were fixed for 10 min in acetone and postfixed for 10 min in 4% paraformaldehyde (diluted in PBS) and incubated for 20 min in 5% normal goat serum diluted in TBS. Then, the sections were incubated with the R2–88 antibody against the sst2A receptor overnight at room temperature. The antibody R2–88 was used at a 1:6000 dilution in TBS containing 1% BSA, 5% normal goat serum, and 0.1% NaN3. Sections were then incubated for 45 min at room temperature in a 1:200 dilution (same buffer as for primary antibody) of biotinylated goat-antirabbit Ig antiserum (DAKO Corp., Glostrup, Denmark) and thereafter for 45 min, at room temperature, with avidin-biotin-complex/horseradish peroxidase (1:120 in TBS; DAKO Corp.). Finally, sections were developed in 0.05% 3,3'-diaminobenzidine (Fluka Chemical Co., Buchs, Switzerland) and 0.006% H2O2 (Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, NJ), weakly counterstained with hematoxylin, and mounted. A tissue was considered to be positive for R2–88 when the immunostaining was abolished after absorption of the antibody with the peptide antigen at 100 nM concentration (30 min at room temperature, with agitation before application of the antibody to the tissue). The tissue reaction was considered to be negative if the immunostaining was not suppressed in presence of the antigen.

Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. In all samples tested, the fixation time was 24–36 h. The fixed tissue was processed for conventional, approximately 5-µm-thick paraffin wax (Paraplast) sections. The sections were dewaxed, rehydrated, and boiled in 10 mM citrate buffer, pH 6.0, in a pressure cooker, as described previously (26). Sections were then (and after all subsequent steps) washed in TBS and incubated with the R2–88 polyclonal antibody against sst2A receptors used at a dilution of 1:2000 overnight at room temperature. All subsequent steps, including absorption of the antibody with the peptide antigen, were performed exactly as in the protocol for frozen tissue, and the same criteria were applied to distinguish between positive and negative tissues.

Receptor autoradiography with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide

Twenty-µm-thick cryostat sections, adjacent to those used for R2–88 immunohistochemistry, were used for in vitro receptor autoradiography with the sst2/sst5-preferring radioligand, 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide, as described previously (32). Nonspecific binding was determined in the presence of 10-6 M octreotide. In all pheochromocytomas, a prewashing procedure was introduced to wash out excess endogenous somatostatin, as described previously (19).

Somatostatin mRNA in situ hybridization

Somatostatin mRNA in situ hybridization was performed in 18 frozen pheochromocytomas and 2 gastroenteropancreatic tumors (1 somatostatinoma and 1 carcinoid), as described in detail previously (33).

Immunoblots

Cell membranes from an sst2A-expressing rat growth hormone-producing pituitary cell line GH-R2 cells were prepared as previously described and were solubilized in SDS sample buffer (62.5 mM Tris-HCl, 2% sodium dodecylsulfate, 10% 2-mercaptoethanol (vol/vol), 6 M urea, and 20% glycerol, pH 6.8) (34). Membranes from frozen samples of two pheochromocytomas, one neuroblastoma, one paraganglioma, one somatostatinoma, and one carcinoid were prepared following published procedures (26). Tumor membrane proteins were solubilized for 60 min at 4 C in Lysis Buffer [150 mM NaCl, 20 mM Hepes, 5 mM EDTA, 3 mM EGTA (pH7.4), 4 mg/mL dodecyl-beta-maltoside with 1 mM PMSF, 10 µg/mL soybean trypsin inhibitor, 10 µg/mL leupeptin, and 50 µg/mL bacitracin]. The detergent lysates were clarified by centrifugation at 10,000 x g for 5 min, and the supernatants were incubated at 4 C for 90 min with 100 µL packed vol of wheat germ agglutinin-agarose. After centrifugation, the supernatant was aspirated, the pellet was washed vigorously with lysis buffer, and the absorbed glycoproteins were subsequently eluted with SDS sample buffer. Eluted proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE on a 12% polyacrylamide gel, transferred to polyvinylidene difluoride membrane, and immunoblotted with R2–88 antiserum (1:10,000 dilution), as described previously (34). Immunoreactive proteins were detected with the ECL enhanced chemiluminescent antibody detection system (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Arlington Heights, IL).


    Results
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
Table 1Go summarizes all immunohistochemical results in frozen and formalin-fixed material. In addition, it compares, in frozen sections, the immunohistochemical data with in vitro receptor autoradiography data.

For small-cell lung carcinoma, all 7 frozen samples showed a positive R2–88 immunohistochemical staining, whereas 6/7 were positive on autoradiography; the only negative small-cell lung carcinoma on autoradiography was the one with the faintest staining with R2–88. Fig. 1Go (left) shows an example of the concomitant positive R2–88 immunostain and positive receptor autoradiography on a small-cell lung carcinoma frozen section. In the archival material, 11/18 small-cell lung carcinomas (61%) were positively stained for R2–88. Fig. 2Go shows the predominant plasma membrane R2–88 staining of a formalin-fixed archival small-cell lung carcinoma, at various magnifications. It seems that almost all cancer cells are labeled. Absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining.



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Figure 1. Immunohistochemical staining, with R2–88, of a small-cell lung cancer (left) and a medulloblastoma (right) (frozen samples). Comparison with receptor autoradiography. A and E, Immunohistochemical staining, with R2–88, of the tumor tissue. Bars, 1 mm. B and F, Control section showing lack of R2–88 staining after absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen (nonspecific staining). C and G, Autoradiograms showing total binding of 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide in tumor tissue. D and H, Autoradiograms showing nonspecific binding of 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide (in the presence of 10-6 M octreotide).

 


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Figure 2. R2–88 immunohistochemistry, showing the plasma membrane localization of the sst2A receptors in a small-cell lung carcinoma at various magnifications (paraffin sections). A, The brown immunoreactivity is predominantly located on the cell membrane of the tumor cells. Bar, 1 mm. B, Adjacent section, showing that absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining of the plasma membrane. C and D, Plasma membrane sst2A receptors at high magnification. Bars, 0.1 mm (C) and 0.01 mm (D). In all cases, cell bodies are stained in blue (hematoxylin).

 
For medulloblastomas, all 11 frozen samples showed a positive R2–88 immunohistochemical staining, and all 11 cases were strongly positive on receptor autoradiography (Table 1Go). Fig. 1Go (right) illustrates a strongly receptor-positive frozen sample of medulloblastoma, both with R2–88 immunohistochemistry and receptor autoradiography. Moreover, all 8 consecutive archival medulloblastomas were positive for R2–88. Fig. 3Go depicts an R2–88-positive, formalin-fixed medulloblastoma with strong staining of the tumor cell plasma membranes and abolishment of staining in the presence of 100 nM peptide antigen.



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Figure 3. R2–88 immunohistochemistry, showing the plasma membrane localization of the sst2A receptors in a medulloblastoma at various magnifications (paraffin sections). A, The brown immunoreactivity is predominantly located on the cell periphery of the tumor cells. Bar, 1 mm. B, Adjacent section, showing that absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining of the plasma membrane. C, Plasma membrane sst2A receptors at high magnification. Bar, 0.1 mm. In all cases, cell bodies are stained in blue (hematoxylin).

 
For neuroblastomas, 13/15 frozen cases were R2–88-positive, as were 13/15 cases positive with receptor autoradiography (Table 1Go). One of the R2–88-positive cases was negative with autoradiography, whereas one case that was positive with autoradiography was negative for R2–88. In archival, formalin-fixed material, 5/6 neuroblastomas were stained with R2–88, sometimes in an heterogeneous manner and with variable cytoplasmic and cell-surface staining. Fig. 4Go, A and B, shows an example of an R2–88-positive heterogeneously stained neuroblastoma with strong plasma membrane staining of neoplastic ganglion cells. Fig. 4Go, C and D, illustrates (at high magnification) a different neuroblastoma with mixed cytoplasmic and membranous staining.



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Figure 4. R2–88 immunohistochemistry, showing the localization of the sst2A receptors in two neuroblastomas (A and B; C and D) and 1 pheochromocytoma (E and F) (paraffin sections). A, The brown immunoreactivity is predominantly located on the cell surface of the tumor cells. However, the neuroblastoma is heterogeneously stained; the upper and the lower part of the tumor are receptor-negative. Bar, 0.1 mm. B, Adjacent section, showing that absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining. C, In this ganglioneuroblastoma, the immunoreactivity is predominantly in the cytoplasm; some cells have also plasma membrane staining. Bar, 0.01 mm. D, Adjacent section, showing that absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining. E, Plasma membrane localization of sst2A receptors in a pheochromocytoma. Bar, 0.01 mm. F, Adjacent section, showing that absorption with 100 nM peptide antigen abolishes the staining.

 
For paragangliomas, 13/15 frozen cases were stained with R2–88; the same cases were also labeled with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide (Table 1Go). For pheochromocytomas, 20/20 frozen cases were stained with R2–88. They were all labeled with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide (Table 1Go). As shown previously (19), a prewashing procedure was necessary, in several cases, to markedly improve the 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide labeling. Because receptor occupancy probably occurs by the endogenous somatostatin produced by pheochromocytomas (19, 35, 36), the wash procedure presumably releases this prebound somatostatin. In situ hybridization for somatostatin mRNA was performed in 18 of the frozen pheochromocytoma samples. Seven of these samples were shown to be positive for somatostatin mRNA, precisely those 7 which showed improved labeling with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide after the prewashing procedure. In formalin-fixed archival material, 16/18 pheochromocytomas were stained with R2–88 (Table 1Go). An example of a formalin-fixed pheochromocytoma, positively stained at the tumor cell plasma membranes for R2–88, is seen in Fig. 4Go, E and F. However, the immunostaining of many of the pheochromocytomas was more cytoplasmic than membranous. A comparable R2–88 immunostaining pattern, showing both cytoplasmic and plasma membrane staining, could also be observed in the frozen pheochromocytoma samples (see below).

We next evaluated the relationship between the R2–88 immunostaining pattern, receptor binding (as determined by autoradiography) and the level of somatostatin gene expression (measured as mRNA) in frozen material from pheochromocytomas. We then compared the results with those obtained in a gastroenteropancreatic tumor with very high levels of somatostatin mRNA (somatostatinoma) and a gastroenteropancreatic tumor without somatostatin mRNA (carcinoid). As shown in Fig. 5Go, a pheochromocytoma (II) with abundant somatostatin mRNA (middle) and one (I) without somatostatin mRNA (left panels) both showed R2–88 staining as well as 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide binding. In contrast, the strongly somatostatin mRNA-positive somatostatinoma (Fig. 5Go, right) was also R2–88-positive but 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide-negative, despite extensive prewashing. Details of the R2–88 immunohistochemistry of these cases, at higher magnification, in Fig. 6Go, reveal that the somatostatin mRNA-negative pheochromocytoma I (A) had a more distinctly plasma membrane staining pattern than the somatostatin mRNA-positive pheochromocytoma II (B). Moreover, whereas the somatostatin mRNA-positive somatostatinoma had mainly a cytoplasmic R2–88 staining (D), the sst2A-positive carcinoid lacking somatostatin mRNA had a strongly membranous R2–88 staining (C), as shown previously for this type of tumor (26).



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Figure 5. Positive immunohistochemical staining with R2–88 of a pheochromocytoma (I) with negative somatostatin mRNA (left), a pheochromocytoma (II) with positive somatostatin mRNA (middle), and a somatostatinoma (right) (frozen samples). Comparison with in situ hybridization for somatostatin mRNA and receptor autoradiography using 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide. A, D, and G, Immunohistochemical staining with R2–88 positivity located in the tumor tissue in all three cases. Bars, 1 mm. B, E, and H, Autoradiograms showing in situ hybridization of somatostatin (SS) mRNA. The pheochromocytoma I, on the left, is lacking somatostatin mRNA, whereas the pheochromocytoma II and the somatostatinoma have abundant somatostatin mRNA. C, F, I, Autoradiograms showing total binding of 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide in tumor tissue. Both pheochromocytomas are labeled with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide, whereas the somatostatinoma is not. For the pheochromocytoma II, in the middle, a prewashing procedure was necessary to visualize the receptors. SS-R, Somatostatin receptor.

 


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Figure 6. R2–88 immunohistochemistry, showing the different localization of the sst2A receptors (cryostat sections without counterstaining). A, In the somatostatin mRNA-negative pheochromocytoma I (left case in Fig. 5Go; Pheo I in Fig. 7Go), the brown immunoreactivity has a membranous pattern. Bar, 0.1 mm. B, In the somatostatin mRNA-positive pheochromocytoma II (middle case in Fig. 5Go; Pheo II in Fig. 7Go), the immunoreactivity has a cytoplasmic pattern. Bar, 0.1 mm. C, In a somatostatin mRNA-negative GEP tumor (carcinoid: GEP in Fig. 7Go), the immunostaining is predominantly membranous. Bar, 0.1 mm. D, In the somatostatin mRNA-positive GEP tumor (somatostatinoma: right case in Fig. 5Go; SStoma in Fig. 7Go), the immunostaining is cytoplasmic. Bar, 0.1 mm.

 
Figure 7Go shows immunoblots of glycosylated proteins purified by WGA affinity chromatography from six R2–88-positive tumors, including some with plasma membrane staining (carcinoid, paraganglioma, neuroblastoma, and pheochromocytoma I) and some with intracellular staining (somatostatinoma and pheochromocytoma II). In these experiments, GH-R2 cells provide a positive control, because the sst2A receptor has been extensively characterized in this cell line (34); the negative control is provided by the addition of antigen peptide, which blocks immunodetection of the receptor. Western blots revealed, in each tumor, a single broad band of characteristic shape and appropriate size for the sst2A receptor (30, 34). In tissue sections of all six tumors, positive immunostaining with R2–88 was observed. Therefore, both plasma membrane (as seen in the carcinoid and pheochromocytoma I in Fig. 6Go) and intracellular (as seen in the somatostatinoma and pheochromocytoma II in Fig. 6Go) staining patterns are consistent with the presence of true sst2A receptors. Moreover, in the case of tumors with large amounts of endogenous somatostatin, as seen in the somatostatinoma, it is likely that the great majority of the sst2A receptors have been internalized. These intracellular receptors are not detected by ligand autoradiography, although they are still recognized by the R2–88 antibody.



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Figure 7. Western blot analysis of sst2A receptor immunoreactivity in tumor tissue. GHR2 cell crude membrane protein (8 µg) and WGA-purified tumor membrane proteins were separated on a 12% SDS polyacrylamide gel. After electrophoretic transfer to polyvinylidene difluoride membrane, the proteins were immunoblotted with a 1:10,000 dilution of R2–88 antibody in the absence (-) or presence (+) of 100 nM peptide antigen (Ag). The amount of sample applied to each lane of the PAGE gel corresponded to the WGA-purified material obtained from the following amounts of starting membrane proteins: GEP tumor, 81 µg; somatostatinoma (SStoma), pheochromocytoma (Pheo I and II), and neuroblastoma (Nbl), 150 µg; and paraganglioma (Pgl), 133 µg. Molecular size markers, in kDa, are shown on the side of the figures. The left panels show a 5-sec exposure. The right panels show a 1-min exposure.

 

    Discussion
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 
In this large series of neural and neuroendocrine tumors (consisting of small-cell lung carcinomas, medulloblastomas, neuroblastomas, paragangliomas, and pheochromocytomas), we have shown that the great majority express the sst2A receptor protein. In the group of selected frozen tumor samples, there is an excellent correlation between immunohistochemical staining and labeling with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide, an sst2/sst5-preferring radioligand.

Previous studies, in which the sst2A receptor was labeled with a photoaffinity ligand, showed that this receptor migrated as a broad 70-kDa band and that the R2–88 antibody specifically recognized both the photoaffinity-labeled receptor protein and the unoccupied receptor protein (30). This antibody does not recognize any of the other sst receptor subtypes (30). The broad migration pattern of the sst2A receptor on SDS gels is caused by heterogeneous glycosylation, because treatment of the receptor with enzymes that remove asparagine-linked carbohydrates results in a decrease in the molecular size of the sst2A receptor, to about 40 kDa, and the generation of a much narrower band on SDS gels (37). Thus, the positive immunoblots that identify, in human tumors, the 70-kDa broad band characteristic of the glycosylated sst2A receptor (30) provide further confirmation that the correct protein is detected by the immunohistochemical staining. These results demonstrate that the R2–88 immunohistochemical staining is indeed highly specific for somatostatin receptors of the sst2A type and identify this receptor subtype as, at least partially, responsible for the 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide binding.

For most tumors, the R2–88 immunostaining was concentrated mainly in the plasma membrane. This subcellular distribution was optimally observed in formalin-fixed tissues but could usually also be identified in cryostat sections, in particular when H + E counterstaining was omitted (26). Such cell-surface staining is compatible with the functional role of somatostatin receptors that are all G protein-coupled, membrane-bound proteins (3, 10).

In contrast to the plasma membrane staining in the majority of the tumors, the intracellular cytoplasmic R2–88 staining pattern, in several pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas, required further investigation. It was possible that the preferentially cytoplasmic R2–88 staining was nonspecific and unrelated to somatostatin receptors, analogous to the nonspecific cytoplasmic HER-2 immunohistochemical staining seen in some tumors with the Herceptin test (38). However, two strong arguments favor the thesis that the cytoplasmic staining in pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas represents true sst2A receptors. First, the usually excellent correlation with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide autoradiography indicates that active plasma membrane receptors are usually present in the same cells as the cytoplasmic, antibody-positive receptor. Second, the positive and specific immunoblots found with pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas, which exhibit substantial cytoplasmic staining, indicate that staining results only from the correct protein. The cytoplasmic staining in these tumors may result in internalized receptors. It is known that ligand binding stimulates sst2A receptor internalization (34, 39). Further, in a recent, elegant study (40, 41), Beaudet et al. have shown that, in the rat brain, areas with high levels of local endogenous somatostatin have much more intracellular sst2A receptors than areas without endogenous somatostatin. These observations supported the conclusion that receptor occupancy by endogenous somatostatin increased the steady-state level of internalized sst2A receptor in rat brain. It is well known that pheochromocytomas and neuroblastomas can produce somatostatin (19, 35, 36, 42, 43, 44). We wanted to determine whether such chronic somatostatin production and release may act in an autocrine fashion to stimulate the internalization of tumoral sst2A receptors. Interestingly, we observed that pheochromocytomas with no somatostatin mRNA show plasma membrane staining, whereas pheochromocytomas with abundant somatostatin mRNA exhibit mainly cytoplasmic staining. Similar observations were made in two gastroenteropancreatic tumors. The somatostatin producing somatostatinoma shows a strong (mainly cytoplasmic) R2–88 staining. Presumably, in this type of tumor, which is characterized by extremely high somatostatin levels, the few remaining plasma membrane receptors do not suffice to yield a positive 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide signal by autoradiography, despite a prewashing procedure to remove endogenously bound somatostatin from receptors. The other gastroenteropancreatic tumor, a nonsomatostatin-producing carcinoid, has mainly plasma membrane sst2A receptors and, accordingly, a positive receptor autoradiography, common for this type of tumors (26). Thus, our observations provide the first evidence to show that tumor-produced somatostatin can act in an autocrine fashion, that sst2A receptor internalization occurs in tumor tissue in vivo, and that internalized receptor protein may explain the absence of ligand binding.

Overall, the presented data clearly indicate that the presence of cytoplasmic staining by R2–88 does, at least in the case of somatostatin-producing tumors, represent specific sst2A receptors as reliably as the plasma membrane staining pattern (26). The main evidence for this assertion is the observation that both tumors with plasma membrane sst2A receptors (carcinoid, paraganglioma, neuroblastoma, pheochromocytoma) and tumors with cytoplasmic R2–88 staining (somatostatinoma, pheochromocytoma) show only the characteristic sst2A receptor band on Western blots. It does not mean, though, that cytoplasmic staining obtained with an antibody against sst receptors is always correlated with the presence of endogenous somatostatin, nor that it will always represent specific sst receptors (46).

Very few tumors tested for both R2–88 immunohistochemistry and receptor autoradiography with 125I[Tyr3]-octreotide gave discrepant results. One small-cell lung carcinoma and one neuroblastoma were R2–88-positive but were negative on autoradiography; one neuroblastoma was R2–88-negative but was positive on autoradiography. Numerous explanations can be given for such discrepancies, including technical reasons (inadequate sample preservation and processing), sensitivity differences between the detection methods, a predominance of low-affinity intracellular receptors, or the presence of non-sst2A receptors (e.g. sst2B or sst5) detectable by autoradiography.

The high incidence of sst2A receptors detected with R2–88 immunohistochemistry in archival material corresponds very well with previous measurements of somatostatin receptor abundance determined with other methods in frozen sections, such as receptor autoradiography; all medulloblastomas have somatostatin receptors (16, 17), a majority of pheochromocytomas have somatostatin receptors (18, 19), whereas small-cell lung carcinomas and neuroblastomas have somatostatin receptors in approximately 2/3 of the cases (11, 12, 13). However, with 125I[Tyr3]-octreotide autoradiography, the identity of the detected receptor cannot be known with certainty. In contrast, the results reported here unambiguously identify the sst2A receptor protein.

These data are not only of general interest, in terms of the biological characterization of the described tumors and their implication of a role for sst2A receptors in tumor regulation, they are also likely to have clinical applications. Because it was possible, in the present study, to identify sst2A in small biopsies of small-cell lung carcinomas, the described method may provide an immunohistochemical receptor test of sufficient accuracy and specificity, in small samples, for diagnostic use. This test would provide an additional discriminator for the differentiation of small-cell lung carcinomas from non-small-cell lung carcinomas, on the basis of the sst2A receptor content, because non-small-cell lung carcinomas usually do not have somatostatin receptors, at least when measured with 125I-[Tyr3]-octreotide binding (12, 45). The sst2A receptor may also be usefully identified in medulloblastomas by immunohistochemistry, and results from such an analysis could provide a rationale for the use of radiolabeled somatostatin analogs for diagnostic and/or radiotherapeutic purposes in sst2A-positive medulloblastomas. Differential diagnosis and follow-up, in particular the detection and therapy of recurrences, should be considered. Furthermore, immunohistochemical identification of sst2A in neuroblastomas may be of prognostic value, because we have shown, with receptor autoradiographical methods, that those neuroblastomas that express somatostatin receptors have a significantly better prognosis than neuroblastomas lacking such receptors (13). Finally, the observation of a predominant cytoplasmic localization of sst2A receptors in selected neuroendocrine tumors raises the question of whether these receptors will remain accessible in vivo to labeled or unlabeled somatostatin analogs and permit diagnostic and therapeutic applications; or whether, on the contrary, the lack of membrane-bound receptors in these tumors will prevent any useful application of somatostatin analogs in such tumors.


    Footnotes
 
1 This investigation was supported by a Research Grant from the National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, Digestive, and Kidney Diseases (Grant DK32234; to A.S.). Back

Received December 22, 1999.

Revised April 15, 2000.

Accepted June 30, 2000.


    References
 Top
 Abstract
 Introduction
 Materials and Methods
 Results
 Discussion
 References
 

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