Correlation between the Expression of Interleukin-6, STAT3, E-Cadherin and N-Cadherin Protein and Invasiveness in Nonfunctional Pituitary Adenomas

Abstract

Objective This study aimed to investigate the expression of interleukin (IL)-6, signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3), epithelial-cadherin (E- cadherin) and neural-cadherin (N-cadherin) proteins in nonfunctional pituitary adenomas, and their correlation with invasiveness. Method Thirty cases of nonfunctional pituitary adenoma pathological wax specimens were selected from our hospital, including 20 cases of invasive nonfunctional pituitary adenoma (INFPA) and 10 noninvasive nonfunctional pituitary adenomas (NNFPAs). Envision was used to detect IL-6, STAT3, E-cadherin , and N-cadherin in specimens. Statistical methods were used to analyze the correlation between the four proteins and the Knosp classification of nonfunctional pituitary adenomas. Result IL-6 and STAT3 were highly expressed in INFPAs but poorly expressed in NNFPAs. E-cadherin expression in INFPAs was lower than that in NNFPAs. N-cadherin was positive or strongly positive in both groups. Spearman's correlation analysis showed that the expression of IL-6 and STAT3 was positively correlated with Knosp's classification, whereas the expression of E-cadherin was negatively correlated with Knosp classification. Meanwhile, the expression of N-cadherin was not correlated with Knosp's classification. Conclusion The expression of the IL-6, STAT3, E-cadherin proteins were associated nonfunctional pituitary adenomas. However, the expression of N-cadherin was not correlated with nonfunctional pituitary adenomas.

Identification and gene expression profiling of human gonadotrophic pituitary adenoma stem cells

“…In clinical practice, the Knosp grading system has been widely used in the pituitary adenoma surgery assessment [ 13 ]. Some previous studies have already used this system to screen the differences in genetic profiles between invasive and non-invasive pituitary adenomas [ 30 ]. Nine genes were verified as being significantly differentially expressed between non-invasive and invasive gonadotrophic pituitary adenomas, and further staining indicates that the gene that produces the ANXA2 protein was one of the key genes.…”