Immunohistochemical analysis of beta-defensin-2 expression in human lung tumors

Shestakova T., Zhuravel E., Bolgova L., Zaitsev S., Efanova O., Soldatkina M., Pogrebnoy P.V.

Aim: The present research was directed on analysis of the expression patterns of human beta-defensin-2 (hBD-2) in human lung tumors. Materials and Methods: Specimens of surgically resected human lung tumors (n = 31) of different histological type (1 case of small cell lung cancer, and 30 cases of non-small cell lung cancer (1 case of clear cell carcinoma, 9 cases of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 20 cases of adenocarcinoma (AC)) were analyzed for expression of hBD-2 with the use of immunohistochemical analysis. Results: Immunohistochemical analysis has revealed that all lung tumor samples independently on their histological type express hBD-2 peptide, however at different levels (from < 5% to 100% cells). According to our observations, low-differentiated AC differs from moderately differentiated AC by significantly lower hBD-2 expression levels (p < 0.05). No correlation between hBD-2 expression patterns and PCNA or Bcl-2 expression has been found. Conclusion: Human beta-defensin-2 expression levels may depend on differentiation grade of lung adenocarcinoma.