Expression of galectin-3 correlates with apoptosis in pituitary adenoma cells
- VernacularTitle:垂体腺瘤中半乳糖凝集素-3的表达及其与细胞凋亡关系
- Author:
HUANG CHUI-XUE
1
;
HOU YONG-HONG
;
LIU YUN-SHENG
Author Information
1. 海南省人民医院
- Keywords:
pituitary neoplasma;
galectin-3;
apoptosis;
invasiveness
- From:
Neuroscience Bulletin
2008;24(1):34-38
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To investigate the expressions of Galectin-3 (Gal-3), Bcl-2 and Bax in human pituitary adenomas, and to explore the interrelation among them. Methods RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were applied to detect the mRNA and protein expressions of Gal-3, Bcl-2 and Bax in surgically excised human pituitary adenoma tissues, including invasive and non-invasive pituitary adenomas, and the correlation analysis was performed. Results The Gal-3 and Bcl-2 expressions in the invasive pituitary group were significantly higher than those in the non-invasive group, and the expression of Bax had no significant difference between the two groups. Pearson's correlation analyses showed that the Gal-3 expression was positively correlated with Bcl-2, but was not correlated with Bax, which was inversely correlated with expression of Bcl-2. Conclusion Gal-3 may function through a cell death inhibition pathway involving Bcl-2 to enhance cell proliferation, which result in the invasive growth of pituitary adenoma. These results indicate that Gal-3 has an important role in pituitary tumor cell proliferation and may serves as a possible therapeutic target in treatment of pituitary tumors.
