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  • Title: Serine 2481-autophosphorylation of mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) couples with chromosome condensation and segregation during mitosis: confocal microscopy characterization and immunohistochemical validation of PP-mTOR(Ser2481) as a novel high-contrast mitosis marker in breast cancer core biopsies.
    Author: Lopez-Bonet E, Vazquez-Martin A, Pérez-Martínez MC, Oliveras-Ferraros C, Pérez-Bueno F, Bernadó L, Menendez JA.
    Journal: Int J Oncol; 2010 Jan; 36(1):107-15. PubMed ID: 19956839.
    Abstract:
    The prognostic abilities of breast cancer gene expression signatures are due mostly to the detection of proliferation activity. One of the strongest, yet simple and well-reproducible proliferation-associated prognostic factors is the mitotic activity index (MAI). However: a) counting mitotic figures is regarded by many histopathologists as cumbersome and time-consuming, and b) most available immunohistochemical markers are much weaker predictors than the MAI. We have investigated the spatio-temporal sub-cellular distribution of the Serine 2481-autophosphorylated form of mTOR (PP-mTOR(Ser2481)) during the G(1)/S-to-M-phase transition both in cultured cancer cells and in cancer tissue specimens. Using a high-resolution, automated confocal high-content imaging system, we observed that mitotic cells notably accumulated a distinct pattern of nuclear and cytoplasmic immunolabelings of PP-mTOR(Ser2481). Parallel experiments examining site-specific phosphorylation (i.e., Serine 10 and Serine 28) of the G(2)/M marker Histone H3 (PP-H3) revealed that PP-H3(Ser10/Ser28) staining efficiently detected mitotic cells from prophase until the beginning of anaphase, but not during late anaphase, telophase and cytokinesis. PP-mTOR(Ser2481) staining associated near and between separating chromosomes not only during early mitotic stages but also to the midzone and to midbody at ana/telophase through cytokinesis. We then evaluated the usefulness of PP-mTOR(Ser2481) immunostaining for improving the efficiency of mitotic counting using. Anti-PP-mTOR(Ser2481)-labeled mitotic figures (MFs) were easily seen and permitted a quick identification of mitotic hotspots in formalin-fixed cancer tissues, even at low magnification. Importantly, average mitotic counts were significantly higher when using PP-mTOR(Ser2481) staining than with the hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) protocol in breast cancer core biopsies. Mitotic count based on PP-mTOR(Ser2481) immunostaining increased tumor grade by one grade in 2 of 9 breast carcinomas. These findings warrant forthcoming studies to confirm both the accuracy and the prognostic value of PP-mTOR(Ser2481) as a novel high-contrast immunohistochemical mitosis marker in larger populations of human breast carcinomas.
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