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. 2010 Apr 1:10:123.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2407-10-123.

N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-14 as a potential biomarker for breast cancer by immunohistochemistry

Chen Wu  1 , Xiaodan Guo, Weina Wang, Yun Wang, Yaojun Shan, Bo Zhang, Wenqian Song, Sisi Ma, Jianfeng Ge, Hao Deng, Mingsheng Zhu
Affiliations

N-Acetylgalactosaminyltransferase-14 as a potential biomarker for breast cancer by immunohistochemistry

Chen Wu et al. BMC Cancer. .

Abstract

Background: The post-translational modification of proteins, including glycosylation, differs between normal and tumor cells. The UDP-N-acetyl-D-galactosamine polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferases (GalNAc-Tases) family of enzymes regulates the initial steps of mucin O-glycosylation and is responsible for the altered glycosylation state observed in cancer cells. Recently it was found that GalNAc-T14 mRNA is heterogeneously expressed in breast carcinomas compared to normal tissue, however the expression profile of GalNAc-T14 protein in breast carcinomas compared to normal tissue is still unknown. In this study, we assessed the expression profile of GalNAc-T14 protein in malignant and non-malignant breast tissues by immunohistochemistry to evaluate whether GalNAc-T14 might be a potential biomarker for breast cancer.

Methods: In formalin-fixed tissues, the expression level of GalNAc-T14 protein was evaluated by immunohistochemistry assay in breast tissues. Expression profiles were assessed in normal tissues, benign fibroadenomas and several types of carcinomas.

Results: Our results showed that GalNAc-T14 was heterogeneously expressed in breast carcinomas compared to non-malignant tissue. GalNAc-T14 expression was observed in 47/56 (83.9%) carcinoma samples, 7/48 (14.6%) non-malignant breast tissue samples. GalNAc-T14 expression level was associated with histological grade. For this enzyme a significant association with invasive ductal type, mucinous adenocarcinoma and ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) type was found.

Conclusion: Our results provide evidence that GalNAc-T14 may be a potential biomarker for breast cancer by immunohistochemistry. GalNAc-T14 expression level was associated with histological grade. GalNAc-T14 expression can provide new insights about breast cancer glycobiology.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Immunohistochemical evaluation of GalNAc-T14 in breast carcinomas and normal tissue. A, Adenosis. B, Normal. C, Cancer. D, Cancer and surrounding normal tissue. E, Nonspecific immunoglobulin was used as a negative control. Magnification: A, B, C, E ×400; D ×100. (In order to show the immunostaining profile of carcinomas and normal tissue surrounding carcinomas in the same microscopic field, 100× magnification was used)
Figure 2
Figure 2
GalNAc-T14 expression in different breast cancer type. A, Invasive ductal carcinoma. B, Invasive lobular carcinoma. C, DCIS. D, Mucinous Adenocarcinoma. Magnification: ×400.
Figure 3
Figure 3
The differential expression of GalNAc-T14 protein in breast carcinomas with different histological grades. A, the cases with histological grade 1. B, the cases with histological grade 2. C, the cases with histological grade 3.
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