Abstract
Thioredoxin (Trx) is a multifunctional redox protein that has growth-promoting and anti-apoptotic effects on cells and protects cells from endogenous and exogenous free radicals. Recently, altered expression of Trx has been reported in various cancers. In the present study, we investigated altered expression of Trx at the precancerous and carcinogenic phases during cholangiocarcinogenesis in a hamster cholangiocarcinoma (ChC) model, using semiquantitative immunohistochemical and Western blot analyses. Moreover, to determine if the results correlated well with those in human ChCs, we carried out a comparative immunohistochemical study for Trx in tissue-arrayed human ChCs with different grades of tumor cell differentiation. Trx was found highly expressed in the cytoplasm of dysplastic bile ducts with highly abnormal growth patterns and ChCs irrespective of tumor type or tumor cell differentiation. Overexpression of Trx at the precancerous and carcinogenic phases was further supported by significant elevation of Trx protein in Western blotting. The results from the hamster ChCs were in good agreement with those from human ChCs. Our results strongly suggested that the redox regulatory function of Trx plays an important role in bile duct cell transformation and tumor progression during cholangiocarcinogenesis.