The Correlation between CD۴۴ and ABCG۲ Expression and Pathological Grades of Bladder Carcinoma

Background: The human bladder cancer progression is accompanied by the growth of side-populations of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The expression of ABCG۲ and CD۴۴, as the CSC markers, may be associated with different pathological grades of bladder cancer. This study was designed to identify the changes occurring in ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ in different types of bladder tumors at various grades.Methods: The sample included ۶۷ patients with bladder cancer (۶۳ males; ۴ females) with a diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma (urothelial cancer) using cystoscopy. Based on the tumor pathological grade, we divided the tumor biopsies into two low-grade (N=۲۰) and high-grade (N=۲۱) groups. The tumor samples along with ۲۶ normal-looking bladder tissues were analyzed by techniques like immunohistochemistry (IHC) and total RNA extraction for qPCR.Results: Based on the results obtained by IHC analysis of ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ protein in bladder low- and high-grade tumors, these CSC markers showed significant elevation in malignant tissues in comparison to the normal bladder tissues. The scoring of ABCG۲ expression in normal, low-grade and high-grade tissues was ۲۸, ۱۲۰, and ۱۴۰ respectively. The CD۴۴ scores in the normal bladder, low-grade and high-grade tissues were found to be ۰.۶, ۱۱.۵, and ۲۹.۰, respectively. The IHC data showed inconsistency with the qPCR data, suggesting an overexpression of ABCG۲ (۴-۶.۵ folds) and CD۴۴ (۱۵-۲۲ folds) in the low and high-grade tumors in comparison to the normal bladder tissue.Conclusions: Finding a good relationship between ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ markers and different grades of bladder cancer demonstrated that these markers can be seen as potential and predictive indicators of bladder malignancy.Background: The human bladder cancer progression is accompanied by the growth of side-populations of cancer stem cells (CSCs). The expression of ABCG۲ and CD۴۴, as the CSC markers, may be associated with different pathological grades of bladder cancer. This study was designed to identify the changes occurring in ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ in different types of bladder tumors at various grades. Methods: The sample included ۶۷ patients with bladder cancer (۶۳ males; ۴ females) with a diagnosis of transitional cell carcinoma (urothelial cancer) using cystoscopy. Based on the tumor pathological grade, we divided the tumor biopsies into two low-grade (N=۲۰) and high-grade (N=۲۱) groups. The tumor samples along with ۲۶ normal-looking bladder tissues were analyzed by techniques like immunohistochemistry (IHC) and total RNA extraction for qPCR. Results: Based on the results obtained by IHC analysis of ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ protein in bladder low- and high-grade tumors, these CSC markers showed significant elevation in malignant tissues in comparison to the normal bladder tissues. The scoring of ABCG۲ expression in normal, low-grade and high-grade tissues was ۲۸, ۱۲۰, and ۱۴۰ respectively. The CD۴۴ scores in the normal bladder, low-grade and high-grade tissues were found to be ۰.۶, ۱۱.۵, and ۲۹.۰, respectively. The IHC data showed inconsistency with the qPCR data, suggesting an overexpression of ABCG۲ (۴-۶.۵ folds) and CD۴۴ (۱۵-۲۲ folds) in the low and high-grade tumors in comparison to the normal bladder tissue. Conclusions: Finding a good relationship between ABCG۲ and CD۴۴ markers and different grades of bladder cancer demonstrated that these markers can be seen as potential and predictive indicators of bladder malignancy.

Keywords:

ABCG۲ , CD۴۴ , Bladder cancer , Tumor grade , Cancer stem cell.