Expression of septin-9 in human renal cell carcinoma and clinical significance

Abstract

Objective To study the expression of septin-9 protein and gene in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and normal renal tissues and reveal the role of septin-9 gene in the process of angiogenesis in renal tumors. Methods The clinicopathologic data of 60 cases of RCC freshly excised in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed. The expression of septin-9 protein and mRNA was detected by Western blotting and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (Real-time PCR). Tumor microvessel density (MVD) in CD105-labeled RCC was measured. The correlation between the expression of septin-9 in RCC and MVD was analyzed. Results (1) RCC tissues and adjacent cancer tissues both had the expression of septin-9 gene and protein. The gene expression of septin-9 in different pathological grades of RCC was 1.258±0.372, 1.339±0.408, 1.502±0.476, 1.689±0.511, and the protein expression was 1.325±0.315, 1.597±0.376, 1.634±0.513, 1.805±0.572, which was significantly higher than that in tumor adjacent tissues and normal tissue (P<0.05). With the increases in pathological grades of RCC, the expression of septin-9 gene and protein was up-regulated. (2) The positive expression rate of CD105 in RCC tissue was 76.67% (46/60), and 13.33% (2/15) in cancer adjacent tissue with the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). The MVD in the cancer adjacent tissue was 12.38±2.05. MVD in different pathological grades was 21.59±4.39, 29.84±7.43, 38.61±6.27, and 52.18±6.22 respectively. The MVD was increased with the increases in the pathological grades. Conclusion The expression of septin-9 played an important role in the development of human RCC probably by interfering with the tumor microvascular formation. Key words: Septin-9; CD105; Microvessel density; Renal cell carcinoma