ABSTRACT
Background and purpose:Members of the NF-kappaB family of transcription factors could activate bcl-2 anti-apoptotic genes at the transcriptional level and then regulate cell apoptosis.The p53 tumor suppressor gene has a clear role!in both the regulation of cell cycle and expression of apoptosis-related bcl-2 family.There were few reports about the expression of NF-?Bp65,bcl-2,bcl-xL and their relationships with p53 and cell apoptosis in pancreatic cancer.The present study was designed to analyze the expression of the antiapoptotic molecules nuclear factor kappaB(NF-?Bp65),bcl-2 and bcl-xL in pancreatic ductal carcinoma(PC) and their correlations to the apoptosis index and p53 expression.Methods:Immunohistochemical analyses of P53 protein was performed on 25 cases of pancreatic ductal carcinoma and 9 cases of normal pancreas;Western blot was used to evaluate NF-?Bp65 protein and RT-PCR for bcl-2 mRNA and bcl-xL mRNA of 25 cases of pancreatic ductal carcinoma and 9 NP cases.The apoptosis was determined by TUNEL.Results:The positive rate of P53 protein was 56%(14/25)in PC tissues,significantly higher than that in NP tissues(P