-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
Takashi Suzuki, Kazuhiro Takahashi, Andrew D. Darnel, Takuya Moriya, Osamu Murakami, Toshiaki Narasaka, Junji Takeyama, Hironobu Sasano, Chicken Ovalbumin Upstream Promoter Transcription Factor II in the Human Adrenal Cortex and Its Disorders, The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Volume 85, Issue 8, 1 August 2000, Pages 2752–2757, https://doi.org/10.1210/jcem.85.8.6730
Close - Share Icon Share
Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter transcription factor II (COUP-TFII) is an orphan member of the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily. COUP-TFII has been demonstrated to negatively regulate the transcriptional activity of adrenal 4-binding protein, a steroidogenic cell-specific transcription factor that activates the transcription of various steroidogenic P450 genes. We therefore examined immunolocalization of COUP-TFII in the human adrenal cortex and its disorders, including functioning and nonfunctioning cortical tumors, to study its possible correlation with adrenocortical steroidogenesis. In nonpathological adrenal cortex, COUP-TFII immunoreactivity was marked in the nuclei of adrenocortical cells in definitive and fetal zones from 16 gestational weeks to 2 months after birth. Immunoreactivity for COUP-TFII was marked in the zona glomerulosa and weak in the zonae fasciculata and reticularis from 7 months to 8 yr of age, but thereafter markedly decreased in these zones (P < 0.05, between age 7 months to 8 yr and 24–62 yr of age, respectively). In adrenocortical tumors, COUP-TFII immunoreactivity was marked in the nuclei of tumor cells of aldosteroma (H score, 134 ± 15.9; P < 0.001 vs. Cushing’s adenoma and P < 0.05 vs. nonfunctioning adenoma and carcinoma), modest in nonfunctioning adenoma (82.7 ± 19.8) and adrenocortical carcinoma (79.6 ± 56.3), and low in Cushing’s adenoma (38.2 ± 24.5). Results from immunoblotting performed in seven cases of adenomas were consistent with those of immunohistochemistry. In the attached nonneoplastic adrenal cortex of the adenomas, immunoreactivity for COUP-TFII was markedly increased compared to that in nonpathological adrenal cortex in adults and was especially marked in the zona glomerulosa in the attached adrenal of aldosteroma (P < 0.001) and the zona fasciculata in that of Cushing’s adenoma (P < 0.05). COUP-TFII immunoreactivity was universally detected in stromal cells of the adrenal glands. These results suggest that COUP-TFII plays an important role in the regulation of steroidogenesis in human adrenal cortex and its disorders.
