Expressions of glutathione S-transferases M1 and glutathione S-transferases M2 in follicular thyroid carcinoma and their significances / 肿瘤研究与临床

ABSTRACT

Objective:To investigate the expressions of glutathione S-transferases M1 (GSTM1) and glutathione S-transferases M2 (GSTM2) in follicular thyroid carcinoma (FTC) and their clinical significances.Methods:Gene expression profile of GSE82208 generated from 52 human thyroid samples, including 27 cases of FTC and 25 cases of follicular adenoma (FA) were collected from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database. The gene matrix data were extracted and analyzed, and then differentially expressed genes (DEG) between FTC and FA were identified by using Limma package. Immunohistochemical SABC method was used to detect the expression levels of GSTM1 and GSTM2 proteins in FTC tissues and FA tissues collected from 56 FTC samples and 56 FA samples in Dandong First Hospital of Liaoning Province from January 2000 to December 2020. The relationship between GSTM1 and GSTM2 was analyzed; the association of expression levels of GSTM1 and GSTM2 with the clinicopathological factors of FTC patients was also analyzed.Results:Based on the GEO database, a total of 40 DEG were identified, including 9 up-regulated DEG (GSTM1, GSTM2, COL6A2, CUX2, CLUH, TSC2, OGDHL, ACADVL, SDHA) and 31 down-regulated DEG in FTC. The immunohistochemistry results of samples resected showed that the positive rates of GSTM1 and GSTM2 proteins in FTC tissues were higher than those in FA tissues [71.4% (40/56) vs. 23.2% (13/56), 80.4% (45/56) vs. 14.3% (8/56)], and differences were statistically significant ( χ2 values were 26.11 and 49.03, both P < 0.01). The expressions of GSTM1 and GSTM2 in FTC tissues were correlated with clinical staging, invasion degree and distant metastasis (all P < 0.05), but not with gender, age and tumor diameter (all P>0.05). There was a positive correlation between GSTM1 and GSTM2 proteins expressions in FTC ( r = 0.384, P = 0.004). Conclusions:The expression levels of GSTM1 and GSTM2 in FTC are increased. The interaction between GSTM1 and GSTM2 proteins can be involved in the development and progression of FTC.