Expression of β-tubulin isotypes in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma

Microtubules consist of heterodimers of α- and β-tubulin. Aberrant expression of specific β-tubulin isotype is associated with resistance to chemotherapy in malignant tumors. In this study, we examined the expressions of β-tubulin isotypes in classical Hodgkin's lymphoma (cHL) by immunohistochemistry. Among the β-tubulin isotypes, class II β-tubulin (31/34, 91%) was most frequently overexpressed in the cytoplasm of almost all Hodgkin's and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells, followed by class I β-tubulin (18/34, 53%) and class III β-tubulin (12/34, 35%). Class IV β-tubulin was not expressed in any cHL case. Class I β-tubulin was expressed in the background lymphoid cells as well as the HRS cells. Thus, our results indicate that class II β-tubulin may be very useful for immunohistochemical diagnosis of cHL, and provide valuable information for the potential application of β-tubulin isotype-specific targeting.