doi:10.1369/jhc.6R7125.2006
Volume 55 (4): 327-334, 2007 Copyright ©The Histochemical Society, Inc. Activation of the IGF1 System Characterizes Cholangiocyte Survival During Progression of Primary Biliary Cirrhosis
Department of Experimental Medicine, University of L'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy (PO); Department of Clinical Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology (DA,MGM,ADS,AFA), Department of Anatomy (AF,GC,EG), University of Rome, La Sapienza, Rome, Italy; Department of Surgical and Gastroenterological Sciences, University of Padua, Padua, Italy (ARF,MG); Gastroenterology Unit, University "Tor Vergata", Rome, Italy (MA); and University of Rome, La Sapienza, Polo Pontino, Latina, Italy (DA) Correspondence to: Domenico Alvaro, MD, Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Clinical Medicine, via R. Rossellini 51, 00137 Rome, Italy. E-mail: domenico.alvaro{at}uniroma1.it
We evaluated the IGF1 system in cholangiocytes of primay biliary cirrhosis (PBC) patients and investigated the relationships with apoptosis. Biopsies of PBC patients (n=32) and normal subjects (n=5) were investigated by immunohistochemistry for expression in cholangiocytes of IGF1, IGF1-R, pAKT, terminal deoxynucleotide transferase end labeling (TUNEL), Bax (proapoptotic protein), and Bcl2 (antiapoptotic protein). Whereas normal cholangiocytes were almost negative, cholangiocytes of PBC patients showed strong IHC staining for IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT, which increases from stage I to stage IV, where >70% of cholangiocytes were positive. Bax/Bcl2 ratio reached the highest value (4.6) in PBC stage III when apoptosis is maximal (24% TUNEL positivity), whereas it declines in stage IV (1.4) when only 7.8% cholangiocytes were TUNEL positive. In PBC stages III and IV, expression of IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT in cholangiocytes was directly correlated with the antiapoptotic Bcl2 and inversely correlated with proapoptotic Bax, Bax/Bcl2 ratio, and TUNEL positivity. In conclusion, cholangiocytes of PBC patients showed a marked increase in IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT expression involving most cholangiocytes surviving in the terminal ductopenic stage. This was associated and correlated with a balance of pro- and antiapoptotic proteins favoring survival rather than apoptosis, suggesting a major role of IGF1 system in promoting cholangiocyte survival. (J Histochem Cytochem 55:327334, 2007)
Key Words: primary biliary cirrhosis IGF1 cholangiocytes apoptosis cholestasis
PRIMARY BILIARY CIRRHOSIS (PBC) is the most frequent acquired cholangiopathy and represents, worldwide, a major indication for liver transplantation (Boyer 1997 The aim of this study was to evaluate IGF1, IGF1-R, and PI3K/AKPT pathway in cholangiocytes of patients with different stages of PBC and to correlate their expression with markers of apoptosis.
Liver Samples and Patient Characteristics The study was carried out on liver biopsies from 32 postmenopausal female patients with diagnosis of PBC based on standard, internationally accepted criteria (Boyer 1997
Liver Histology and Immunohistochemistry For detection of apoptosis on the single cell we used the terminal deoxynucleotide transferase end labeling (TUNEL) method (ApopTag; Oncor, Gaithersburg, MD). For each sample, more than five portal spaces limited to interlobular bile ducts (<100 µm in diameter) were studied. Findings were expressed as the percentage of IHC-positive cells over the total number of cholangiocytes by counting >100 nuclei in bile ducts. Histological and IHC determination were performed independently and blindly by two pathologists (PO,AF) from two different institutions, with an agreement always >90%.
Analytical Methods
Statistical Analyses
Characteristics of PBC patients and normal controls are reported in Table 1 . No significant differences in age exist between patients with different PBC stages and normal controls.
IHC analyses focus on interlobular bile ducts (20100 µm in diameter) without significant differences between the different PBC stages and normal controls in the diameter of investigated ducts. IHC for IGF1 and IGF1-R in the liver of PBC patients and normal controls is shown in Figure 1 and quantitative data, expressed as percentage of positive cholangiocytes, are reported in Table 2 . Less than 1% cholangiocytes of normal liver were positive for IGF1 and IGF1-R in the IHC study (Figures 1A and 1C). In contrast, most cholangiocytes of PBC patients were positive, with a staining located prevalently at cytoplasmic level for both IGF1 and IGF1-R (Figures 1B and 1D). When the different stages of PBC were compared, the positivity for IGF1 increased from 64% cholangiocytes in PBC stage I to 75% in stage II and III (p<0.02 vs stage I, Table 2) and to >90% in stage IV (p<0.01 vs stage I, II, or III, Table 2). IHC positivity for IGF1-R involved 35% to 40% cholangiocytes in PBC stages I, II, and III and markedly increased in PBC stage IV where it involved >75% of cholangiocytes (p<0.01 vs stages I, II, and III; Table 2). To investigate the signal transduction pathway activated by IGF1, we evaluated the IHC for pAKT, which was positive in <1% cholangiocytes of the normal liver (Figure 2A
). In PBC, the pAKT-positive staining (Figure 2B) involved 30% of cholangiocytes in stages I, II, and III, whereas in PBC stage IV pAKT positivity markedly increased involving 70% cholangiocytes (p<0.01 vs PBC stages I, II, or III, Table 2). By considering all PBC stages, the percentage of cholangiocytes positive for pAKT was positively correlated with that of IGF1 (r = 0.72, p<0.03) or IGF1-R (r = 0.76, p<0.02).
We next investigated IHC expression of Bcl2 and Bax (Figure 3 ), which are two main players in the regulation of apoptotic cascade (Willis et al. 2003 33% cholangiocytes were positive for the antiapoptotic protein Bcl2 (Figure 3A; Table 2), and this was slightly increased in PBC stage I (37%) and stage II (39%). In contrast, in PBC stage III (Figure 3B), positive staining for Bcl2 significantly declined (22%, p<0.05 vs normals, PBC stage I or stage II), whereas in PBC stage IV, Bcl2 positivity was markedly increased involving 58% cholangiocytes (p<0.01 vs normals or other PBC stages). A different trend was observed for the proapoptotic Bax, whose staining involved 53% cholangiocytes in the normal liver (Figure 3C), increased to 90% in PBC stages I, II, and III (p<0.01 vs normals; Figure 3D), and significantly decreased in the terminal PBC stage IV (81%, p<0.05 vs PBC stages I, II, and III). The Bax/Bcl2 ratio has been considered an expression of a balance between pro- and antiapoptotic proteins in the cell and, in fact, by considering all PBC stages, it was found to be directly correlated (r = 0.78, p<0.01, Figure 4
) with TUNEL positivity. The Bax/Bcl2 ratio increased from 1.64 in normal cholangiocytes to 2.4/2.3 in PBC stages I and II (p<0.01 vs normal, Table 2) and reached the highest value in PBC stage III (4.6; p<0.01 vs normal, PBC stage I and stage II) when apoptosis is maximal (i.e., 24% TUNEL-positive cholangiocytes; Table 2). In PBC stage IV, however, the Bax/Bcl2 declined to 1.41 (p<0.01 vs PBC stages I, II, and III), and this coincided with a marked decline in the percentage of apoptotic cholangiocytes (i.e., 7.8% TUNEL-positive cholangiocytes; Table 2).
By considering the ductopenic stages of PBC (i.e., stage III and stage IV), expression of IGF1, IGF1-R, or pAKT in cholangiocytes of PBC patients was directly correlated with the antiapoptotic protein Bcl2 (r = 0.87, 0.86, 0.88; p<0.01) and inversely correlated with the proapoptotic protein Bax (r = 0.73, 0.76, 0.75; p<0.02) and with the Bax/Bcl2 ratio (r = 0.81, 0.80, 0.82; p<0.01).
The main findings of this study indicate that (1) cholangiocytes lining interlobular bile ducts of PBC patients, but not normal subjects, showed a significant positivity for IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT, which increases from stage I to stage IV; (2) >70% of cholangiocytes surviving in the terminal ductopenic stage of PBC were positive for IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT; (3) in the ductopenic stages III and IV of PBC, expression of IGF1, IGF1-R, and pAKT in cholangiocytes was directly correlated with the antiapoptotic protein Bcl2 but inversely correlated with the proapoptotic protein Bax and with Bax/Bcl2 ratio and with TUNEL positivity.
IGF1 is a circulating peptide hormone and locally acting growth factor with endocrine, paracrine, and autocrine functions (Ge and Rudikoff 2000
We have recently shown in experimental studies that the IGF1 system and PI3kinase/Akt pathway are activated and drive cholangiocyte proliferation and resistance against apoptosis in obstructive cholestasis induced by bile duct ligation (Alvaro et al. 2005
Several experimental and human studies indicate that, in cells expressing estrogen receptors, a synergism exists between estrogen and IGF1 in modulating survival and resistance against apoptosis, with a preferential involvement of the estrogen receptor In conclusion, we have shown that the IGF1 system activation is a feature of biliary epithelium lining interlobular bile ducts of PBC patients and specifically that this represents a characteristic of almost all cholangiocytes surviving in the terminal ductopenic stages of the disease. In light of our findings, pharmacological or genetic strategies aimed to sustain the IGF1 system may help in delaying disease progression.
This work was supported by MIUR grants (to DA and AFA): PRIN 2003, 2005: #2003060137_002, 2003060498_002, 2005069739_003, 2005067975_002. E.G. and P.O. are supported by PRIN 2003, 2005, Biomedicina-Cluster C04-progetto n.ro 5 and ex 60% grants. We thank F. Lucarelli and Cinzia Tesse for technical assistance in immunoblotting and Tracie Dornbusch for English editing.
1 These authors contributed equally to this work. Received for publication October 13, 2006; accepted November 30, 2006
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