Korean J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg.  2006 Nov;39(11):805-809.

TGF-beta1 Protein Expression in Bullae of Patients with Spontaneous Pneumothorax

• Kim KH
• Cho JS
• Kim YS
• Yoon YH
• Kim JT
• Baek WK
• Kim L
• Song SU

Abstract

BACKGROUND: In our previous study, we demonstrated that transforming growth factor-beta 1 receptor II (TGF-beta1RII) may have a role in the formation of bullae. In this study, we investigated if expression of transforming growth factor-beta 1 (TGF-beta1) ligand was altered in a bullous lung tissue by immunohistochemical staining of bullous tissues from patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax. MATERIAL AND METHOD: Bullous lung tissues were obtained from 36 patients with primary spontaneous pneumothorax, including 34 males and 2 females aged 14 to 38 years old. RESULT: Of the 36 patients, 19 were TGF-beta1 positive and 24 were transforming growth factor-beta 1 receptor II (TGF-beta1RII) positive. Among the 19 TGF-beta1 positives, 15 were also TGF-beta1RII positive, observation at high magnification showed that strong immunohistochemical stain was detected in the boundary region between the bullous and normal lung tissues.
CONCLUSION
These results suggest that overexpression of TGF-beta1 may be involved in the formation of a bulla as well as the alteration of TGF-beta1RII expression. Further molecular studies are needed to elucidate the more detailed molecular mechanisms of the bulla formation.

Keyword

Bullae; Proteins

MeSH Terms

Adult
Female
Humans
Lung
Male
Pneumothorax*
Transforming Growth Factor beta1*
Transforming Growth Factor beta1