RESUMO
Objective To study the expression of Oct4 gene, an embryonic stem cell marker, in cervical carcinoma cell lines and tissues for the purpose of finding the relationship between this gene and cervical cancer. Methods The expression of Oct4 in normal cervical tissues and cervical carcinoma tissue and cell lines was detected by the immunohistochemistry and RT-PCR. Results ① The expression of Oct4 mRNA in cervical carcinomas (73.3%, 22/30) was significantly higher (P<0.01) than that in normal cervical tissues (25%, 3/12); ② The rate of Oct4 protein expression in cervical cancer (53.7%, 22/41) was higher (P<0.01) than that in normal cervical tissues (7.7%, 1/13); ③ Oct4 protein was expressed in cervical carcinoma cell lines and primary tumorspheres. ④ The expression of Oct4 in tumorspheres was down-regulated during cell differentiation. Conclusion Our results imply that Oct4 may be one of the cervical cancer stem cell markers, but this still needs further research data to support.