Expression and association of IL-21, FBXL20 and tumour suppressor gene PTEN in laryngeal cancer.

Abstract

ObjectiveTo study the expression of three genes IL-21, FBXL20 and tumour suppressor gene PTEN in laryngeal cancer; analyse the differences in their expression in laryngeal cancer and adjacent tissues; by using pEGFP-N1-IL21 and pGPU/GFP/Neo-FBXL20 expression vectors, to analyse the characteristics in their expression in laryngeal cancer cells outside the body as well as the associations among them.MethodsThe expression of the three genes in laryngeal cancer and adjacent tissues from 30 cases and in normal laryngeal tissues from 20 healthy persons was detected with the RT-PCR; laryngeal cancer cell line (HEp-2 cells) transfection was also performed with the pEGFP-N1-IL21 and pGPU/GFP/Neo-FBXL20 expression vectors we constructed, to detect the mRNA expression of the three genes. Cell proliferation, apoptosis and cell cycle were measured by the MTT assay.ResultsThe results of RT-PCR showed that the expression of IL-21 and FBXL20 was up-regulated in laryngeal cancer, while the expression of tumour suppressor gene PTEN was significantly decreased (p < 0.01). In HEp-2 cells transfected with pGPU/GFP/Neo-IL-21 and pGPU/GFP/Neo-FBXL20 expression vectors, the mRNA expression of PTEN was restored to some extent (p < 0.05); in addition, the ability of HEp-2 cells in proliferation and invasion was also reduced.ConclusionsIL-21 and FBXL20 genes are important in the occurrence and development of laryngeal cancer; the expression of PTEN gene can suppress laryngeal cancer, and there's a certain association among IL-21, FBXL20 and PTEN.