title: Detection of cytokeratins in normal and malignant laryngeal epithelia by means of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction.
abstract: Cytokeratins (CKs) are a subgroup of intermediate filament proteins that take part in forming the cytoskeleton. The epithelial cells in different organs express distinct CKs, and this expression may be modified during malignant transformation. Here we describe the use of reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction followed by Southern blotting to determine the profile of expression of CKs in both normal and malignant laryngeal samples. Thirty-six samples were subjected to histologic examination and classified as 17 squamous cell carcinomas, 3 dysplastic lesions, and 16 normal samples. CK8 and CK19 were expressed in almost all samples, both cancerous and normal, and were therefore used to verify the integrity of RNA. Expression of CK2, CK9, and CK20 was not detected in any of the samples, normal or cancerous. CK15 and CK18 showed low sensitivity for detection of cancer (36.4% and 45.5%, respectively). CK10 showed relatively high sensitivity (91%), but only moderate specificity (69.2%). Only CK17 showed both high sensitivity and specificity (91% and 92.3%, respectively; positive predictive value, 91%). We propose that CK17 may be considered a promising candidate to use as a molecular marker for malignant transformation in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Lady Davis Carmel Medical Center, Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa.
authors.forename: Raanan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cohen-Kerem
authors.forename: Nitza
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lahat
authors.forename: Irit
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Elmalah
authors.forename: Elhanan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Greenberg
authors.forename: Murray B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Resnick
authors.forename: Ilana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Doweck
authors.forename: Michal A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rahat
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007633:Keratins / Q000032:analysis*; D007820:Laryngeal Mucosa / Q000737:chemistry*; D007822:Laryngeal Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D007633:Keratins