Deciphering the clinical significance of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 in urothelial carcinoma of bladder.
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Biochemistry, University of Lucknow, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- 2Department of Pathology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- 3Department of Urology, King George's Medical University, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.
- 4Centre for Biodesign and Diagnostics, Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, Haryana, India.
Abstract
Background
Considering an important interplay of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 in autophagy, where Bcl-2 inhibits autophagy by binding and inhibiting Beclin-1, evaluation of their expressions may provide insights into the tumor biology of the clinically distinct non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).Materials and methods
Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 expressions were examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining (IHC) in 47 NMIBC and 37 MIBC patients. Their expressions were evaluated in relation to patients' demographics. Autophagic vesicles (AVs)/autophagy were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Results
Fold change expressions of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2, at the gene level, were observed to be asymmetrical/skewed. Significances of expressions at the mRNA level with tumor stage (P = 0.0415), grade (P = 0.0488), and size (0.0451) in the NMIBC cohort were observed, whereas Bcl-2 expression exhibited significances with stage (P = 0.0328) and tumor type (P = 0.0499) in NMIBC and MIBC (P = 0.0474) patients. Western blotting and IHC showed decreased Beclin-1 and increased Bcl-2 immunostaining with an increase in the tumor stage and grade. TEM micrographs recorded an increase in AVs/autophagy in a tumor stage and grade-dependent manner. Tumor size was identified as a predictor of short progression-free survival (P = 0.031) in NMIBC patients. The Kaplan-Meier test could not identify Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 as the predictors of survival outcomes.Conclusion
Beclin-1 downregulation, Bcl-2 upregulation, and increased autophagy in tumor stage and grade-dependent manner suggest their role in aggressiveness of the bladder cancer.
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BibTeX
@article{niharika2026deciphering,
title = {{Deciphering the clinical significance of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 in urothelial carcinoma of bladder.}},
author = {Niharika and Shreyansh Tripathi and Atin Singhai and Apul Goel and Niraj Kumar and Minal Garg},
journal = {Indian journal of urology : IJU : journal of the Urological Society of India},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.4103/iju.iju_77_26},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910392},
note = {CC BY-NC-SA},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Deciphering the clinical significance of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 in urothelial carcinoma of bladder.
AU - Niharika
AU - Shreyansh Tripathi
AU - Atin Singhai
AU - Apul Goel
AU - Niraj Kumar
AU - Minal Garg
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/29
JO - Indian journal of urology : IJU : journal of the Urological Society of India
DO - 10.4103/iju.iju_77_26
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42910392
AB - Background Considering an important interplay of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 in autophagy, where Bcl-2 inhibits autophagy by binding and inhibiting Beclin-1, evaluation of their expressions may provide insights into the tumor biology of the clinically distinct non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) and muscle invasive bladder cancer (MIBC).Materials and methods Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 expressions were examined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, Western hybridization, and immunohistochemical staining (IHC) in 47 NMIBC and 37 MIBC patients. Their expressions were evaluated in relation to patients' demographics. Autophagic vesicles (AVs)/autophagy were examined by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Results Fold change expressions of Beclin-1 and Bcl-2, at the gene level, were observed to be asymmetrical/skewed. Significances of expressions at the mRNA level with tumor stage (P = 0.0415), grade (P = 0.0488), and size (0.0451) in the NMIBC cohort were observed, whereas Bcl-2 expression exhibited significances with stage (P = 0.0328) and tumor type (P = 0.0499) in NMIBC and MIBC (P = 0.0474) patients. Western blotting and IHC showed decreased Beclin-1 and increased Bcl-2 immunostaining with an increase in the tumor stage and grade. TEM micrographs recorded an increase in AVs/autophagy in a tumor stage and grade-dependent manner. Tumor size was identified as a predictor of short progression-free survival (P = 0.031) in NMIBC patients. The Kaplan-Meier test could not identify Beclin-1 and Bcl-2 as the predictors of survival outcomes.Conclusion Beclin-1 downregulation, Bcl-2 upregulation, and increased autophagy in tumor stage and grade-dependent manner suggest their role in aggressiveness of the bladder cancer.
SN - 0970-1591
SN - 1998-3824
ER -