Uroplakin expression in the urothelial tumors of cows.

Expression of uroplakins (UPs) was investigated in 20 bladder tumors from cows that had been suffering from chronic enzootic hematuria for several years. In dysplastic urothelium and papillomatous proliferations, UP expression was evident both as luminal and intercellular staining. UPs appeared to clearly define the plasma membrane of luminal cells and the borders of cells placed in deeper layers, whether or not these intermediate cells were adjacent to superficial ones. Occasionally, some intermediate cells showed a remarkable cytoplasmic immunoreactivity. The pattern of UPs in grade I tumors was characterized by an evident discontinuity of luminal staining and by the presence of numerous intermediate cells showing a diffuse intracytoplasmic positivity for UPs. In grade II tumors, there was a decrease of luminal and intermediate cells showing UP expression and an apparent increase of clusters of intermediate cells with intracytoplasmic reactivity for UPs. In grade III tumors, immunoreactivity was heterogeneously distributed and a severe loss of UP-positive luminal and intermediate cells could be seen. Focally, superficial and deeper cells showed strong membraneous immunoreactivity that marked and delimited single cells, with complete circumferential peripheral staining clearly evident. UP expression in bladder tumors of cows reported in this study is similar to the UP pattern of some urothelial tumors in humans. Although UP expression is remarkably changed in bladder carcinogenesis of cattle, the UP gene(s) remains expressed during cell transformation and tumor progression.