鼻咽癌端粒酶各组分基因表达与端粒酶活性的关系

目的明确鼻咽癌组织端粒酶各组分(hTR、TP1、hTERT)基因表达及其与端粒酶活性关系.方法采用RT-PCR和PCR-ELISA方法分别检测同一标本,包括鼻咽癌(NPC)组织、慢性鼻咽炎(CINE)组织端粒酶各组分基因表达和端粒酶活性.结果(1)43例NPC组织中,38例(88%)可检测到hTERTmRNA表达;16例CINE组织中均未能检测到hTERTmRNA表达,hTETRmRNA在NPC组织中表达显著高于CINE组织中hTERTmRNA的表达(P<0.05).(2)43例NPC组织中,39例(90.7%)表达hTR,38例(88%)表达TP1mRNA;16例CINE组织中,14例(87.5%)分别表达hTR和TP1mRNA.hTR或TP1mRNA在NPC和CINE组织中表达比较差异无显著意义(P>0.05).(3)NPC组织端粒酶活性(86%)显著高于CINE组织端粒酶的活性(0%)(P<0.05).(4)hTERTmRNA表达与端粒酶活性显著相关(P<0.05);而hTR或TP1mRNA的表达与端粒酶活性无关(P>0.05).(5)端粒酶各组分基因表达均与NPC临床分期和有无颈淋巴结转移无关(P>0.05).结论hTR和TP1mRNA在NPC和CINE组织中均高阳性率表达,并与端粒酶活性无关,hTERTmRNA仅在NPC组织中表达,与端粒酶活性呈高度一致性,提示hTERT在端粒酶活性调节中可能起决定性作用,对hTERTmRNA检测可以作为NPC临床诊断指标之一.

Expression of telomerase subumits and its relationship with telomerase activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

OBJECTIVE: To study the expression of telomerase subunits and its relationship with telomerase activity in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. METHODS: The expression of telomerase subunits and the telomerase activity were examined in the same sample from nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) as well as from chronic inflammation of nasopharyngeal epithelium (CINE) with RT-PCR and PCR-ELISA respectively. RESULTS: (1) hTERT mRNA was expressed in 38 of 43 cases of NPC (88%), and in none of the 16 cases of CINE (0%) (P < 0.05). (2) hTR was expressed in 39 of the 43 cases of NPC (90.7%),and in 14 of the 16 cases of CINE (87.5%) (P < 0.05). TP1 mRNA was expressed in 38 of the 43 cases of NPC (88%), and in 14 of the 16 cases of CINE (87.5%). There was no statistically significant difference between the expression of hTR and TP1 mRNA in NPC and their expression in CINE (P > 0.05). (3) Telomerase activity was detected in 37 of the 43 cases of NPC (86%) and in none of the 16 cases of CINE (0%) (P < 0.05). There was a significant correlation between the expression of hTERT mRNA in NPC and CINE (P < 0.05). No correlation was observed between telomerase activity and the expression of hTR and TP1 mRNA (P > 0.05). (5) No correlation was observed between the clinicopathological features of NPC and CINE (such as clinical stage and lymph node metastasis) and the expression of any of the telomerase subunits (P > 0.05). CONCLUSION: The expression of hTERT may play a critical role in regulation of telomerase activity, and detection of hTERT mRNA might be useful for clinical diagnosis of NPC.