14-3-3 σ possibly plays a constitutive role in papillary carcinoma, but not in follicular tumor of the thyroid

Jun activation domain-binding protein 1 (jab1) is known as a coactivator of the AP1 transcription factor. Recent studies have demonstrated that jab1 contributes to carcinoma progression by degrading p27/Kip1 protein. In this study, we immunohistochemically investigated jab1 expression in thyroid neoplasms. jab1 overexpression tended to be frequently observed in follicular carcinoma compared to adenoma. Larger-sized papillary carcinoma overexpressed jab1 in higher incidence than microcarcinomas (1.0 cm or less in maximum diameter). In anaplastic carcinoma, jab1 was more frequently overexpressed than in papillary and follicular carcinomas. An inverse relationship was detected between jab1 overexpression and p27 expression in papillary and anaplastic carcinomas, but not in follicular tumor. These results suggest that jab1 plays a role in the progression of thyroid carcinomas, especially those of aggressive phenotypes, and it may be responsible for p27 degradation in anaplastic and papillary carcinomas.