Metallopanstimulin is overexpressed in a patient with colonic carcinoma.

BACKGROUND

Human metallopanstimulin (MPS-1) is a 9.4-kDa multifunctional ribosomal S27 nuclear "zinc finger" protein which is expressed in a wide variety of actively proliferating cells and tumor tissues. In this paper, we present a case of overexpression of MPS-1 in colon cancer tissues of a seventeen year old male.

METHODS

Biopsies at the anastomosis and adjacent normal colonic mucosa were obtained by colonoscopy twelve months after right hemicolectomy for an ascending colon well differentiated adenocarcinoma. Immunohistochemical localization of MPS-1 protein was performed by using specific anti-MPS-1 antibodies directed against the N-terminal region of this protein.

RESULTS

Immunohistochemistry demostrated an overexpression of MPS-1 in colonic mucosa crypts in the samples obtained at the anastomosis. In contrast, no expression of MPS-1 was observed in the adjacent normal mucosa. Histopathology performed with hematoxilin and eosin staining revealed focal crypt distortion and proliferation, but no carcinoma.

CONCLUSIONS

In this case, the overexpression of MPS-1 was a more definitive evidence of malignant transformation than histology, as demonstrated by the clinical course of the disease. The results support the hypothesis that increased levels of tissue MPS-1 may correlate with a more aggressive behavior of colon malignancy.