The Expression of Ptch1 and Ptch2 in the Stenotic Tissue of Congenital Ureteropelvic Junction Obstruction in Children
Abstract Objective Ptch1 and Ptch2 are expressed in tubular epithelium and stromal cells adjacent to the UPJ. They mediated inhibition of smoothened, a transmembrane protein expressed on the cell surface. If the pathway was disturbed, UPJO might be onset. The aim of this study was to determine the expression of Ptch1 (P1) and Ptch2 (P2) in stenotic segments in children with congenital ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO) versus in normal control subjects. Materials and methods Stenotic segments of ureter tissues were obtained from 20 UPJO patients. Extrinsic stenosis, such as vessel and ureteral polyp, were excluded. The control ureter specimens were obtained from 10 patients with Wilm’s tumor, and the tissues were confirmed histologically to be unaffected. Immunofluorescence, Western blot and real-time PCR were used to investigate the expression of P1 and P2. Statistical methods were used to find the differences between the two groups Results P1 and P2 were identified that located in the cytoplasm of smooth muscle in two groups through Immunohistochemistry. However, there were no statistical differences between the two groups in P1 and P2 with immunohistochemistry (P=0.31 and P=0.3, respectively). Meanwhile there were no statistical differences with Western blot (P=0.75 and P=0.9, respectively) and real-time PCR (P=0.52 and P=0.45, respectively). But we found that in the immunofluorescence P1 were diffused in controls and mainly surrounding the nucleuses of smooth muscle cells in UPJO. Conclusions The expression of P1 and P2 between the two group had no statistically significant. P1 mainly surrounding the nucleuses of smooth muscle cells in UPJO. The P1 pathway might be disturbed by the abnormal distribution of P1 rather than the quantity.