Protease receptors in Hodgkin's disease: expression of the factor Xa receptor, effector cell protease receptor-1, in Reed-Sternberg cells

The expression of a cellular receptor for the blood-clotting protease factor Xa, designated effector cell protease receptor-1 (EPR-1), was investigated in lymphoma. Immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated prominent reactivity of monoclonal antibodies to EPR-1 with Reed- Sternberg cells in 30 of 35 cases of nodular-sclerosis, lymphocyte- depletion, and mixed-cellularity Hodgkin's disease (HD). In contrast, several non-Hodgkin's lymphomas, or the nonneoplastic cellular components of HD, did not react with anti-EPR-1 monoclonal antibodies. A single molecular species of approximately 62 kD, consistent with the size and structural organization of EPR-1, was immunoblotted by an anti- EPR-1 monoclonal antibody from tissue samples of HD, but not from normal lymph nodes. Expression of EPR-1 transcripts in Reed-Sternberg cells was demonstrated by in situ hybridization with an antisense EPR-1 riboprobe, and by amplification of reverse-transcribed HD RNA with EPR- 1-specific primers. These findings identify the factor Xa receptor, EPR- 1, as a novel marker of Reed-Sternberg cells, and suggest its potential role in the histopathogenesis of HD.