Volume 52 (12): 1537-1542, 2004 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Combined Smooth Muscle and Melanocytic Differentiation in Lymphangioleiomyomatosis
Department of Pathology, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan Correspondence to: Lucia Schuger, MD, Dept. of Pathology, Wayne State University, 540 E. Canfield St., Rm. 9248, Detroit, MI 48201. E-mail: lschuger{at}med.wayne.edu
Pulmonary lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is characterized by abnormal proliferation of immature-looking smooth muscle (SM)-like cells (LAM cells), leading to lung destruction and cyst formation. In addition to expressing some SM markers, scattered LAM cells express the melanocytic maker gp100, which is recognized by antibody HMB45, suggesting that at least a few LAM cells may have melanocytic differentiation. Here we immunostained 26 LAM samples for several melanocyte-related proteins. These studies showed that all LAM cells express tetraspanin CD63, a melanoma-associated protein that belongs to the transmembrane 4 superfamily. The majority of LAM cells also immunoreacted with PNL2, an antibody against a yet uncharacterized melanocytic antigen. Furthermore, we examined the co-expression of PNL2 and Ki-67, an indicator of cell proliferation, and found that PNL2-positive LAM cells showed a significantly lower proliferation rate compared with their negative counterparts. Our findings shed new light on the nature of the LAM cells by demonstrating their combined SM and melanocytic differentiation and the existence of subpopulations with different proliferative potential. Furthermore, these studies provided two new antibodies useful in the diagnosis of LAM. (J Histochem Cytochem 52:15371542, 2004)
Key Words: lymphangioleiomyomatosis CD63 PNL2 lung
LYMPHANGIOLEIOMYOMATOSIS (LAM) is a rare pulmonary disorder that affects primarily women, with a mean age of onset in the thirties (Corrin et al. 1975
LAM cells have a phenotype consistent with that of immature SM cells. Accordingly, they express SM Our study contributes to the demonstration that LAM lesions have a dual smooth muscle/melanocytic differentiation.
Clinical Information In compliance with the required regulations and consents, 14 formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded LAM specimens (12 from open lung biopsy samples and two from lung transplant samples) were obtained from Pathology Departments nationwide coordinated by the LAM Foundation. Twelve additional LAM samples were obtained from the NHLBI LAM Registry (all were lung transplant samples). Of the total 26 cases, the age range was between 25 and 79 years. The initial complaint included pneumothorax (six cases), hemoptysis (two cases), pleural effusion (two cases), and diverse pulmonary symptoms (14 cases). Two cases also presented with TSC. Three cases of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and three cases of organizing pneumonia were selected from our pathology archival material.
Immunohistochemistry
Double Immunostaining and Determination of Cell Proliferation
Essentially all LAM cells in 26 of 26 cases immunoreacted with antibody CD63, whereas 80% of LAM cells immunoreacted with antibody PNL2 (Figure 1). This generalized immunoreactivity contrasted with the scattered positivity observed when antibody HMB45 was used. As expected, the alveolar structures, airways, blood vessels, and their surrounding fibroconnective tissue did not immunoreact with these two antibodies (Figures 1 and 2), nor did other two diffuse pulmonary conditions tested here, i.e., idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and organizing pneumonia (not shown).
A higher magnification of an LAM lesion is shown in Figure 2. The lesion is immunostained with antibodies against SM -actin (upper panel), HMB45 (middle panel), and CD63 (lower panel). CD63 is clearly present in all LAM cells. The pattern of immunostaining is granular and is distributed in the cytoplasm (Figure 2 inset). The blood vessel wall included in the figure is negative for CD63. As expected, its SM wall is positive for SM -actin and its fibroconnective adventitial layer is negative. CD63-positive cells within the blood vessel represent granulocytes. Some subtypes of granulocytes, particularly eosinophils, have been found to immunoreact with CD63 (Calafat et al. 1997
Figure 3 represents a higher magnification of an LAM lesion immunostained with antibodies against SM
Because not all LAM cells immunoreacted with PNL2, we sought to determine the proliferation level of PNL2-positive cells compared with PNL2-negative cells. For these studies we used the antibody Ki-67, a marker of cell proliferation (Schluter et al. 1993
LAM is characterized by the abnormal proliferation of elongated cells (LAM cells) in the pulmonary interstitium, which eventually obstruct and destroy the lung parenchyma. Although LAM cells are considered an immature form of SM cells, here we showed that all LAM cells in 26 cases immunoreacted with CD63 and most of them immunoreacted with PNL2, both markers for melanocyte differentiation (Vennegoor and Rumke 1986
Our studies indicated that LAM cells do not constitute a homogeneous cell population but that they can be divided at least into three subtypes, those that immunoreact with CD63 alone, those that also immunoreact with PNL2, and those few that express gp100. LAM cell subpopulations differed in their ability to proliferate and therefore in their potential to advance the course of the disease. The cells with the lowest mitotic activity were those positive for PNL2, suggesting that this is a relatively more stable or more differentiated cell subpopulation. We did not determine whether or not HMB45-positive cells immunoreact with PNL2, but Matsumoto et al. (1999b)
This study therefore identified two reliable antibodies to diagnose LAM and, more importantly, it shed new light on the LAM cell and how we view it. Because there are no normal cells with this specific immunophenotype, LAM cells should no longer be considered a variant of SM cells. On the contrary, LAM cells must be regarded as a fully abnormal type with the unique characteristic of having dual SM/melanocyte differentiation. Interestingly, this type of differentiation suggests a neural crest cell origin. Neural crest cells originate at the dorsalmost region of the neural tube and migrate far from their source of origin to specific places in the embryo where they give rise to a variety of tissues, including all melanocytes and certain visceral and vascular SM (Etchevers et al. 2001
Supported by NHLBI grants HL-48730 and HL-67100 (to LS) and by a fellowship from the LAM Foundation. We thank Dr Gerald Beck (Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Cleveland Clinic Foundation) and Ms Sue Byrnes (Director of The LAM Foundation) for facilitating the obtainment of LAM tissue and for providing the pertaining clinical data.
Received for publication June 10, 2004; accepted August 3, 2004
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