ABSTRACT
Background and purpose: Death-associated protein kinase-1(DAPK) is a pro-apoptosis protein,and plays a important role in oncogenesis and development.This study is to investigate the expression of mRNA of DAPK1 and its association with apoptosis in papillary thyroid carcinoma(PTC).Methods:The expression of DAPK1 mRNA was detected by in situ hybridization in 45 cases of PTC and 45 cases of normal thyroid tissues next to tumors that consist of three part of tissue: normal thyroid tissue,nodular goiter and follicular adenoma.The apoptosis in corresponding issues was tested by TUNEL assay and the apoptosis index(AI) was evaluated.Results:The positive rate of DAPK1mRNA in PTC and para-PTC tissues were 37.78% and 71.11%,respectively.The positive rate of DAPK1 mRNA in counterpart thyroid issues was higher than that in tumor tissues(P0.05).Conclusions:As an apoptosis promoter,DAPK1 may function as an inhibitor of tumor,and low expression or loss DAPK1 gene may be involved in the oncogenesis of PTC.The detection of the expression of DAPK1 may be helpful for judging metastasis and prognosis of PTC.