间隙连接蛋白 43在舌鳞状细胞癌中的表达及意义

目的：探讨间隙连接蛋白43（connexin43,Cx43) 在舌癌中的表达及意义。方法：对6例正常舌上皮、24例不同分化程度舌癌的石蜡包埋切片用定量免疫组化检测Cx43蛋白的表达,同时应用流式细胞仪和免疫细胞化学对舌癌细胞株（Tca8113)Cx-43蛋白的表达进行检测。结果：正常 舌上皮中Cx43蛋白定位于棘细胞层的胞膜上,Cx-43阳性表达的 面积和灰度值在正常舌上皮和高分化舌癌之间无显著性差异（P＞0．05）,但Cx43阳性表达的面积随着舌癌细胞分化程度的下降显著降低（P＜0．01）,而且在舌癌组织中Cx－43异常表达于细胞浆。流式细胞仪 和免疫细胞化学检测可见舌癌细胞中Cx43弱表达,细胞阳性率仅为4．8％,而正常舌上皮则为92．3％。结论：该结果提示Cx43表达的改变与舌癌的进展和分化相关。

Expression and Significance of Connexin 43 in Tongue Squamous Cell Carcinoma

Objective: To investigate the role of connexin43 (Cx43) in the development of human tongue carcinoma. Methods: Paraffin embedded tissue sections of 6 cases of normal human tongue epithelium and 24 cases of different differentiated tongue carcinoma were involved in this study. Immunohistochemistry was performed to detect the changes of Cx43 expression in the development of human tongue carcinoma. The expression levels were quantified by image analysis. The expression of Cx43 in tongue carcinoma cell line was examined by flow cytometry (FCM) and immunocytochemistry. Results: In all normal tongue epithelium Cx43 proteins were localized in plasma membranes in spinous layers. There were not significantly difference in the area and gray of Cx43 positive spots between normal epithelium and well differentiated squamous cell carcinoma (P >0.05), but the area of Cx43 positive spots was significantly reduced as cancer cells became morphologically less differentiated (P< 0.01). Furthermore the expression of Cx43 was aberrantly localized in the cytoplasm in tongue carcinoma.In Tca8113 cell line the expression of Cx43 protein was very low, the positive rate of Cx43 protein was only 4.8%. But in normal tongue epithelium the positive rate of Cx43 protein was 92.3%. Conclusion:The data suggest that quantitative and qualitative changes of connexin43 expression are associated with progression and differentiation of human tongue carcinoma.