Имунохистохимично изследване на експресията на нискомолекулните белтъци на стреса – alphab-crystallin и hsp27 – при първични белодробни карциноми

Main function of heat shock proteins (Hsp) is to change the structure and interactions between
other proteins. Overexpression of alphaB-crystallin and Hsp27 is found in number of tumors and is
connected with proliferation, differentiation, invasion, metastasis, apoptosis and immune recognition.
The aim of this study is to investigate the expression of stress proteins alphaB-crystallin and Hsp27 in
malignant epithelial tumors, as we attempt to clarify their involvement in carcinogenesis.
Specimens from surgical resections of 105 patients (72 men, 33 women; age 56.7±12.3) who
underwent radical operation for primary lung cancer were investigated – 35 carcinoid tumors, 20 small
cell lung carcinomas (SCLC), 10 large cell neuroendocrine carcinomas (LCNEC), 20 adenocarcinomas
(AC), 20 squamous cell carcinomas (SCC). Methods: clinico-pathological – histological type, T-status,
N-status, pTNM stage; immunohistochemical – expression of alphaB-crystallin and Hsp27; and
statistical.
Cytoplasmic expression of Hsp27 was found in almost every examined lung carcinoma (97%),
pointing out the main role of this protein in their cancerogenesis. Nuclear expression of Hsp27 is
more important with different levels among different lung carcinomas – mostly in LCNEC, SCLC, SCC,
and AC (p<0.001). Hsp27 is a potential target for targeted therapy in lung cancer. Nuclear expression of alphaB-crystallin is found in 99% of tumors, and cytoplasmic expression – in 23%. There is a statistically significant correlation between nuclear expression of alphaB-crystallin and lymph node metastasis (р<0.001), stage (p=0.02), and size of the tumors (p=0.04). There is a statistically significant correlation between cytoplasmic expression of alphaB-crystallin and stage – expressing tumors are more often in earlier stage, and negative tumors are more in advanced stage (p<0.001). We conclude that low weight heat shock proteins play a major role in cancerogenesis of lung cancer.