Neoglycoconjugates in lung pathology

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Kayser, Klaus | Kayser, Gian

Affiliations: Abteilung für Pathologie,Thoraxklinik, Heidelberg, Germany | Institut für Pathologie, Universität Freiburg, Germany

Note: [] Address for correspondence: Klaus Kayser, MD, PhD Department of Pathology Thoraxklinik, Amalienstr. 5 D-69126 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: klkayser@lung.de

Abstract: Aims: To analyze the practicability and clinical significance of histochemically applied neoglycoconjugates in lung pathology. Theoretical background: Carbohydrate-binding proteins (lectins and related substances) are supposed to play a major part in intercellular biochemical information exchange such as proliferation, apoptosis, maturation, cellular recognition. Their histochemical application offers a spatial related insight of potential presence and expression of binding capacities of lectins in.normal and abnormal human cells. These properties can be associated with biological parameters such as tumor stage, tumor response to therapeutic regimes, or prognosis. In addition, syntactic structure analysis resulting in texture parameters can be applied by measuring the staining intensities of various probes . It takes into account defined basic units (cells, nuclei, vessels, etc.) and their relationship to neighboring units. Primary derived parameters include average nearest distances, type of nearest neighboring units, secondary derived parameters structural entropy and its current. Basic units can be defined according to selected functional expressions such as presence or exhibition of binding capacities of visible probes (immune/ligand histochemistry). Material and methods: The presence/expression of binding capacities of numerous probes (antibodies, glycohistochemical substances) was analyzed in various lung diseases including fetal lung development, tuberculosis, sarcoidosis, different types of lung tumors (malignant and benign). The slides were graded qualitatively (positive/negative) and the intensity of staining was measured by use of an image analyzing system. The obtained results were correlated with clinical parameters (TNM stage, survival, disease-free interval between primary tumor and lung metastases). A total of seven investigations on colon/rectum, breast, testis carcinoma and their lung metastases, and primary lung cancer, and carcinoids was performed. Results: The technique based upon the PAP method is an easy-to-use and reproducible one. In all cohorts, distance related features display a statistical significant association with the patients' survival and disease free interval. Poor survival was associated with small average distance between tumor cells and between tumor cells and nearest neighboring lymphocytes, low diffusion length and high structural entropy. Of specific relevance was the binding of histoblood group A, H antigens, and presence/binding of galectins. Conclusions: The histochemical application of neoglycoconjugates especially in combination with syntactic structure analysis permits the estimation of features which are associated with the disease-free interval between extrapulmonary cancer and lung metastases, and the patients survival.

Keywords: Lung pathology, quantitative immune histochemistry, lectins, galectins,

Journal: Electronic Journal of Pathology and Histology, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 07-07, 2001