Similar expression pattern of NHERFI and EZRIN in papillary but not in solid areas of human serous ovarian carcinomas

NHERFI is an adaptor protein expressed in the apical membrane of polarized epithelia, which interacts with the EZRIN-Radixin-Moesin (ERM) family of proteins connecting signaling pathways to the cell cytoskeleton. NHERFI and EZRIN cooperate in the maintenance of the apical microvilli in polarized epithelial cells. In several types of cancers, NHERFI and EZRIN are displaced from the apical compartment to the cytoplasm and nuclei of cancer cells. At the present, the distribution of NHERFI in ovarian tumors is not well known. In this study, NHERFI expression was examined by immunohistochemistry in cyst adenofibromas, serous borderline tumors, and serous ovarian carcinomas. We observed a strong staining of NHERFI and EZRIN at the membrane level of borderline tumors and areas of papillary structures in ovarian carcinomas. In tumors without papillary structures and compact structure, NHERFI was exclusively expressed in the apical pole of the cells at the edges of the clefts of luminal spaces. In contrast, positive expression of EZRIN was found in the membrane of tumor cells within the solid tumor where NHERFI was not expressed. In summary, this study shows, for the first time, the distribution of NHERFI in ovarian cancer and reveals a different regulation of NHERFI and EZRIN expression in ovarian tumors which represents the complexity of the molecular changes of this disease. (C) 2016 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.