Relationship of biglycan and decorin expression with clinicopathological features and prognosis in patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: This study focused on investigating relation between biglycan (BGN) and decorin (DCN) expression and prognostic outcome for oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) cases. MATERIAL AND METHODS: BGN and DCN mRNA and protein expression was detected by qRT-PCR and Western-blotting (WB) assays from 31 OSCC samples as well as healthy samples. This work harvested 101 paraffin-embedded OSCC together with 30 healthy samples, and conducted immunohistochemical (IHC) staining for assessing pathological changes. Association of DCN with BGN within OSCC was explored by Spearman's analysis. Survival rate was explored by Kaplan-Meier (KM) approach. Multivariate analysis was conducted by Cox regression. RESULTS: WB and qRT-PCR results showed BGN up-regulation (p < 0.001, p < 0.0001) whereas DCN down-regulation (p < 0.0001, p < 0.0001) with fresh OSCC tissues; the expression of BGN and DCN associated with the OSCC histopathological grade. IHC results suggested elevated BGN level (p < 0.0001) whereas DCN down-regulation (p < 0.0001) with paraffin embedded OSCC tissues. The expression of BGN and DCN associated with histopathologic grades and tumor stage of OSCC. The result of Spearman's analysis demonstrated significant association between the expression of BGN and DCN in OSCC. Survival analysis revealed that patients with higher BGN/lower DCN level showed poor overall survival (OS) as well as tumor-specific survival (TSS). Multivariate analysis proved that BGN and DCN independently predicted the prognosis of OS and TSS. CONCLUSION: BGN and DCN expression levels can be adopted for predicting OSCC prognostic outcome.

Effect of stem cell factor on the angiogenic ability of cocultured DPSCs and HUVECs / 口腔疾病防治

Objective@#To study the effect of stem cell factor (SCF) on the angiogenic ability of cocultured dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).@*Methods @#This study has been reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee. The experiment was split into the HUVECs, SCF+HUVECs, DPSCs+HUVECs, and SCF+DPSCs+HUVECs groups. A mixture of SCF and culture medium was used to prepare a mixed culture medium with an SCF concentration of 100 ng/mL. In vitro coculture of DPSCs and HUVECs was performed at a 1∶5 ratio. CCK-8 proliferation assay was used to observe the proliferative capacity of cells in each group on days 1, 3, 5, and 7. Wound healing and Transwell migration assays were used to detect the effect of SCF on cell migration under either direct or indirect coculture conditions, respectively. In vitro angiogenesis experiments were performed to detect the angiogenic capacity of the cells in each group. The vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGFA) concentration in the cell culture supernatant was detected using ELISAs, and the protein expression levels of CD31, CD34, and VEGFA were detected using Western blot analysis. @*Results @# Wound healing and Transwell migration experiments showed that SCF significantly promoted the migration of cocultured DPSCs and HUVECs (P<0.05). The in vitro angiogenesis experiment showed that the number of branches and the total length of branches of tubular structures in the SCF+DPSCs+HUVECs group were significantly greater than those of the other groups (P<0.05), and the expression levels of the vascular-related proteins CD31, CD34, and VEGFA in this group were greater (P<0.01). @*Conclusion @# SCF can enhance the migration and in vitro angiogenesis of cocultured DPSCs and HUVECs.