Expression of osteopontin mRNA in oral squamous cell carcinoma and normal oral mucosa / 南方医科大学学报

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate osteopontin (OPN) mRNA expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) and normal oral mucosa tissues.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Differential OPN gene expression were detected in 30 cancerous tissues and their paired normal tissues using real-time reverse transcription-PCR (real-time RT-PCR), and the data were analyzed statistically.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Real-time RT-PCR results demonstrated that the relative expression level of OPN mRNA in the cancerous tissues were significantly higher than that in paired normal samples (4.17-/+0.51 vs 0.97-/+0.12, P<0.001), showing a 4.3-fold up-regulation. In the 30 OSCC specimens, OPN mRNA expression in the OSCC of histological grades I showed a 3.1-fold down-regulation, significantly lower than the expression in grade II/III tumors (2.16-/+0.17 vs 6.80-/+0.72, P<0.05); its expression was significantly lower in early stage than in advanced stage OSCCs (2.34-/+0.17 vs 4.73-/+0.35, P<0.05). In cases of cervical lymph node metastasis, the expression was significantly higher than that in cases without lymphatic metastasis (6.38-/+0.56 vs 2.89-/+0.32, P<0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>OPN mRNA overexpression may play an important role in OSCC carcinogenesis and can be a potential target for OSCC therapy.</p>