Stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) expression in the oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract

Purpose: Chemokines are structurally related, small polypeptide signaling molecules that bind to and activate a family of transmembrane G protein- coupled receptors, the chemokine receptors. Recently, interaction between the chemokine receptor CXCR4 and its ligand, stromal cell-derived factor 1 (SDF-1 or CXCL12), has been found to play an important role in tumorigenicity, proliferation, metastasis and angiogenesis in ma ny cancers such as lung cancer, breast cancer, melanoma, glioblastoma, pancreatic cancer and cholangiocarcinoma. Hence, the goal of this study is to identify the correlation of clinicopathological factors and the up-regulation of SDF-1 expr ession in oral squamous cell carcinoma. Material and methods: We studied the immunohistochemical staining of SDF-1, quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) of SDF-1 gene in 20 specimens of 20 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma. Results: 1. In the immunohistochemical study of poor differentiated and invasive oral squamous cell carcinoma, the high level staining o f SDF-1 was observed. And the correlation between immunohistochemical SDF-1 expression and tumor nodes metastases (TNM) classification of specimens was significant.(x 2 test, P < 0.05) 2. In the SDF-1 gene qRT-PCR analysis, SDF-1 expression was more in tumor tissue than in carcinoma in situ tissue. Paired-sampl es analysis deter- mined the difference of SDF-1 mRNA expression level between the cancer tissue and the carcinoma in situ tissue.(Student ' s t-test, P < 0.05) Conclusion: These findings suggest that up-regulation of the SDF-1 may play a role in progression and invasion of oral squamous cell carcin oma.