Espressione della β-catenina e della Survivina nei tumori delle guaine dei nervi periferici del cane (β-catenin and Survivin expression in canine peripheral nerve sheath tumours)

Survivin overexpression has been detected in both benign (BPNSTs) and malignant human peripheral nervesheath tumours (MPNSTs). Expression of β-catenin, a key molecule in Schwann cell development andmaintenance, has been demonstrated to be preserved in human BPNSTs. Since no data are available aboutexpression of these molecules in the peripheral nervous system of the dog, the aim of this study was toevaluate their expression in canine peripheral nerves and PNSTs, in order to investigate their potentialprognostic and/or therapeutic value in this species.Immunohistochemical expression and localization of survivin and β-catenin were evaluated in 4 benignPNSTs, 15 malignant PNSTs and normal peripheral nerves of canine species. A semi-quantitative methodwas used for the analysis of the results.In normal tissue, a low expression of survivin was observed, while β-catenin showed an intense membraneexpression in Schwann cells. In PNSTs, survivin expression increased with malignancy. Membrane β-catenin expression was multifocally preserved in BPNSTs, but reduced in MPNSTs, where nuclear andcytoplasmic immunostaining were found.These results demonstrate different expression patterns of survivin and β-catenin in normal tissue, BPNSTsand MPNSTs. Survivin overexpression was detected in all tumour cases suggesting that this protein canrepresent a potential molecular target for the therapy of canine PNSTs, as it has been recently hypothesizedfor the human counterpart.[...]