Abstract:
Objective To study the expression of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4 (CSPG4) gene in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC)and control tissues.
Methods The CSPG4 mRNA expression of gene in 4 cases with normal nasopharyngeal epithelial tissue and 18 cases with NPC, including 6 stage-Ⅱ, 5 stage-Ⅲ, and 7 stage-Ⅳ cases, was determined by real-time quantitative PCR. A tissue microarray containing 92 cases of control and 187 cases of NPC tissues was constructed, and the CSPG4 protein expression level was assayed by immunohistochemistry.
Results CSPG4 mRNA was barely expressed in the normal tissues of nasopharyngeal epithelium, but significantly upregulated in the NPC biopsies (P=0.017) and positively correlated with the NPC clinical stage. The CSPG4 protein expression was also higher in NPC than in the controls. CSPG4 was significantly expressed in 91.98% of NPC cases, whereas the percentage of high CSPG4 expression cases was 76.09% in the control group (P=0.001).
Conclusion The CSPG4 gene is upregulated in NPC biopsies and is directly associated with NPC clinical staging, implying the probable involvement of CSPG4 in the development of NPC. The detailed mechanismof CSPG4 in carcinogenesis and its potential clinical application in NPC should be investigated further.