This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Gansauge, S. Articles by Beger, H. G. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Gansauge, S. Articles by Beger, H. G.

Interleukin 1ß-converting Enzyme (Caspase-1) Is Overexpressed in Adenocarcinoma of the Pancreas¹

Division of Molecular Oncology, Department of General Surgery, University of Ulm, 89075 Ulm, Germany [S. G., F. G., Y. Y., J. M., M. R., H. G. B.]; Department of Gastroenterology, University of Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany [T. S.]; and Department of Surgery, Beijing Medical University, Beijing 100034, People's Republic of China [Y. Y.]

We investigated the expression of interleukin 1ß-converting enzyme (ICE; caspase-1) in human adenocarcinomas of the pancreas. Immunohistochemistry and Western blot analyses revealed an overexpression of ICE in 71 and 80% of tumor cells, respectively. Also, on a mRNA level, ICE mRNA was overexpressed in 45% of the cases, as compared to normal pancreatic tissue. Interestingly, the overexpression of ICE in tumor cells correlated significantly with the overexpression of cyclin D1, epidermal growth factor, and epidermal growth factor receptor (P < 0.0005, P < 0.05, and P < 0.002, respectively), which are involved in cell cycle progression and proliferation in human pancreatic carcinoma. This is the first report concerning ICE expression in human carcinomas; however, the exact mechanism underlying these close correlations warrant further research.

¹ This work was supported by Deutsche Krebshilfe Grant 10-1276-Gal (to S. G. and F. G.).

² The first two authors contributed equally to this paper.

³ To whom requests for reprints should be addressed, at Department of General Surgery, University of Ulm, Steinhövelstrasse 9, 89075 Ulm, Germany. Phone: 49 731 502 7200; Fax: 49 731 502 7209.

Received 3/19/98. Accepted 5/15/98.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. N. Winter, A. Kramer, A. Borkowski, and N. Kyprianou Loss of Caspase-1 and Caspase-3 Protein Expression in Human Prostate Cancer Cancer Res., February 1, 2001; 61(3): 1227 - 1232. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				H. Matsuzaki, B. M. Schmied, A. Ulrich, J. Standop, M. B. Schneider, S. K. Batra, K. S. Picha, and P. M. Pour Combination of Tumor Necrosis Factor-related Apoptosis-inducing Ligand (TRAIL) and Actinomycin D Induces Apoptosis Even in TRAIL-resistant Human Pancreatic Cancer Cells Clin. Cancer Res., February 1, 2001; 7(2): 407 - 414. [Abstract] [Full Text]

				S. Schlosser, F. Gansauge, T. Schnelldorfer, M. Ramadani, A. Schwarz, H.-G. Beger, and S. Gansauge Inhibition of Epidermal Growth Factor-induced Interleukin-1{beta}-converting Enzyme Expression Reduces Proliferation in the Pancreatic Carcinoma Cell Line AsPC-1 Cancer Res., September 1, 1999; 59(18): 4551 - 4554. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]