Skip Navigation
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document
Use this QR code to view the newest version of this document

Your Environment. Your Health.

Publication Detail

Title: Expression of AKR1C3 in renal cell carcinoma, papillary urothelial carcinoma, and Wilms' tumor.

Authors: Azzarello, Joseph T; Lin, Hsueh-Kung; Gherezghiher, Awet; Zakharov, Vladislav; Yu, Zhongxin; Kropp, Bradley P; Culkin, Daniel J; Penning, Trevor M; Fung, Kar-Ming

Published In Int J Clin Exp Pathol, (2009 Nov 15)

Abstract: Human aldo-keto reductase (AKR) 1C3 is a monomeric cytoplasmic multifunctional enzyme that reduces ketosteroids, ketoprostaglandins, and lipid aldehydes. AKR1C3 was initially identified as an enzyme involved in steroid metabolism. However, immunohistochemistry has demonstrated AKR1C3 in normal adult kidneys with expression in Bowman' capsule, the mesangial cells, proximal and distal tubules, as well as mature urothelial epithelium. The significance of its spatial distribution and metabolic activities in the kidney remains undefined. In addition to its ability to catalyze steroid hormones (including androgen, desoxycorticosterone, and progesterone) and involvement in prostaglandins metabolism, we suspect that AKR1C3 may function as a chemical barrier in the renal tubules for normal function in mature kidneys. Moreover, AKR1C3 may represent a developmental marker for some urological epithelial tissues. In this study, we demonstrate widespread expression of AKR1C3 in renal neoplasms with a phenotype recapitulating mature kidney (i.e., renal cell carcinoma) and urothelium also known as transitional epithelium (i.e., papillary urothelial carcinoma), but noted limited AKR1C3 expression in renal neoplasms with a phenotype recapitulating embryonic kidneys (i.e., Wilms' tumor). Our results suggest that AKR1C3 may represent a developmental marker that is related to renal epithelium maturity.

PubMed ID: 20126582 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases/genetics; 3-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases/metabolism*; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Aldo-Keto Reductase Family 1 Member C3; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/genetics; Carcinoma, Renal Cell/pathology*; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell/genetics; Carcinoma, Transitional Cell/pathology*; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Hydroxyprostaglandin Dehydrogenases/genetics; Hydroxyprostaglandin Dehydrogenases/metabolism*; Immunohistochemistry; Infant; Kidney Neoplasms/genetics; Kidney Neoplasms/pathology*; Male; Middle Aged; Wilms Tumor/genetics; Wilms Tumor/pathology*

Back
to Top