The role of protein kinase C (PKC) in in vitro invasiveness of four different human renal cell carcinoma (RCC) cell lines of the clear cell type was investigated. Different PKC-inhibitors markedly inhibited invasiveness of the highly invasive cell lines, suggesting an invasion-promoting role of PKC in human RCC. Analysis of PKC-isoenzyme expression by protein fractionation and immunoblotting revealed that all cell lines expressed PKC-α, -ɛ, -ζ, -μ and -ι as known from normal kidney tissue. Interestingly, PKC-δ, known to be expressed by normal kidney epithelial cells of the rat, was absent on protein and RNA levels in all RCC cell lines investigated and in normal human kidney epithelial cells. PKC-ɛ expression levels correlated positively with a high proliferation activity, but no obvious correlation between expression levels of distinct PKC-isoenzymes and in vitro invasiveness was observed. However, by immunofluorescence microscopy, membrane localisation of PKC-α and PKC-ɛ reflecting activation of the enzymes, was associated with a highly invasive potential. In conclusion, our results suggest a role for PKC in invasion of human RCCs and might argue in favour of a particular role of PKC-α and PKC-ɛ. Our results further suggest that organ-specific expression patterns of PKC-isoenzymes are not necessarily conserved during evolution. © 2000 Cancer Research Campaign

Clear cell renal cell carcinomas (RCCs) are characterized by a deletion of chromosome 3p, which might result in the inactivation of the FHIT (fragile histidine triad) gene, a putative tumour suppressor gene. To explore the relevance of FHIT aberrations for tumour progression and prognosis in clear cell RCCs, FHIT protein expression was analysed in formalin-fixed tissue from 149 clear cell RCCs by immunohistochemistry. FHIT protein expression was found to be markedly reduced in all RCCs, when compared with adjacent non-neoplastic tubule epithelia. Although remaining below the FHIT levels of normal tubule epithelia, a significant increase of FHIT expression became evident from well (G1) to poorly (G3) differentiated clear cell RCCs (p=0.0001) and from low (pT1) to advanced (pT3) tumour stages (p=0.001). The log-rank test demonstrated a significant inverse correlation (p=0.0074) between FHIT expression and tumour aggressiveness as indicated by patient survival. Cox regression analysis revealed that FHIT expression is an independent prognostic parameter (p=0.0139) in clear cell RCCs. In conclusion, clear cell RCCs show a marked reduction of FHIT protein expression when compared with their putative cells of origin. In contrast to other tumour types, however, loss of FHIT protein expression is significantly less pronounced in poorly differentiated RCCs or advanced tumour stages. This versatility of FHIT expression during tumour progression suggests a role for reversible mechanisms of FHIT inactivation during the initiation and progression of clear cell RCCs.

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