口腔鳞状细胞癌中凋亡蛋白酶活化因子甲基化的研究

目的：探讨凋亡蛋白酶活化因子1（APAF1）基因的启动子区甲基化状态与口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）的关系。方法：采用甲基特异性PCR的方法分别检测23例正常口腔黏膜组织和53例OSCC组织中APAF1基因的启动子区甲基化情况。结果：23例正常口腔黏膜组织中无1例检测到APAF1基因启动子区的甲基化，53例OSCC组织中有41例（77．36％）APAF1基因启动子区完全甲基化，5例（9．43％）APAF1基因部分甲基化，总甲基化率为86．79％（46／53），与正常口腔黏膜组织甲基化率比较差异有显著性（P〈0．01）。APAF1基因的甲基化与病理分级、年龄、性别无关。结论：APAF1基因启动子区的甲基化是该基因在OSCC组织中表达降低的机制之一，基因甲基化引起的基因功能静默可能与OSCC的发生有关。

Methylation of Apoptotic Protease Activating Factor 1 in Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective： To investigate the relationship between the methylation in promoter region of apoptotie protease activating factor 1 （APAF1） gene and oral squamous cell carcinoma （OSCC）. Methods： The methylation in promoter region of APAF1 gene was detected by methylation specific PCR in 23 cases of normal oral mucous membrane and 53 cases of OSCC tissues. Results： There was no methylation in promoter region of APAF1 gene in normal oral mucous membrane. We detected exhaustive methylation in promoter region of APAF1 gene in 41 eases（77.36% ） and partial methylation in 5 cases （9.43%） in OSCC. The total methylation rate was 86.79% （46/53） in OSCC, which had significant difference compared with normal oral mucous membrane（ P 〈 0.01 ）. The methylation of APAF1 gene was not significantly correlated with patho- logical grade, age and sex of patients. Conclusion： The DNA methylation in promoter region might be one of the mecha- nisms that contribute to the down regulate of the expression of APAF1 protein. The loss of DAPK gene＇s function that caused by the methylation in promoter region may relate to the tumorigenesis of OSCC.