Elsevier

Modern Pathology

Volume 16, Issue 5, 1 May 2003, Pages 471-480
Modern Pathology

Article
Increased Expression of the bcl6 and CD10 Proteins Is Associated with Increased Apoptosis and Proliferation in Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphomas

https://doi.org/10.1097/01.MP.0000067684.78221.6EGet rights and content
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Abstract

There is increasing evidence that bcl6 and CD10 expression may be related to apoptosis and cell cycle progression. Therefore, 79 cases of de novo diffuse large B-cell lymphomas were studied for the expression of bcl6 and CD10 proteins in relation to 1) the apoptotic index; 2) the proliferation-associated proteins Ki67, cyclin A, and cyclin B1; and 3) the expression of the bcl2, p53, Rb, p16, and p27 proteins. Expression of bcl6, CD10, and bcl2 proteins was found in 54/79 (68%), 28/79 (35%), and 47/74 (63%) cases, respectively. The bcl6/CD10 patterns were as follows: bcl6+/CD10+ (26 cases, 32%), bcl6+/CD10- (28 cases, 33%), bcl6−/CD10− (23 cases, 31%), and bcl6−/CD10+ (2 cases, 4%). Significant positive correlations were found between bcl6/Ki67 (r = .328, P = .003), bcl6/cyclin A (r = .265, P = .018), bcl6/apoptotic index (r = .327, P = .010), CD10/Ki67 (r = .296, P = .008), and CD10/apoptotic index (r = .397, P = .001). In addition, high expression of bcl6 showed significant correlation with negative (null/low) bcl2 expression (χ2 test, P = .002). The above findings indicate that increased expression of the bcl6 and CD10 proteins is associated with increased apoptosis and proliferation in diffuse large B-cell lymphomas. The association between increased bcl6 expression and enhanced apoptosis might be due, at least in part, to the null/low bcl2 expression because previous in vitro data showed that bcl6 overexpression induces apoptosis accompanied by bcl2 and bcl-xl downregulation. Moreover, significant correlation was found between increased apoptotic index and the bcl6+/CD10+ pattern (t test: P = .014, Mann-Whitney test: P = .046). This finding and the positive correlation of the apoptotic index with bcl6 and CD10 expression may be related to previous results showing that the expression of these proteins has favorable effects on the clinical outcome of diffuse large B-cell lymphomas.

Keywords

Apoptosis
Bcl6
CD10
Diffuse large B-cell lymphomas
Proliferation

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