title: Expression of p27 and apoptosis in oral leukoplakia.
abstract: Recently, a close relationship between the cell cycle and apoptosis was confirmed in oral squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). To clarify the expression of cell cycle-related proteins and apoptosis in the oral premalignant state, we investigated the expression of p27, cyclin D1 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) using immunohistochemical staining, and apoptotic index (AI) using ApopTag in situ staining. The positive expression-score of p27 was 42.0% in leukoplakia (34.8% in hyperplasia, 55.4% in dysplasia) and 31.1% in SCC (43.3% in the early stage of SCC, 25.9% in the advanced stage of SCC). The level of p27 expression showed a peak in dysplasia and decreased in SCC. The expression of cyclin D1 was almost constant between hyperplasia and SCC. The expression of PCNA increased sequentially with disease progression. The apoptotic index (AI) in the p27-positive leukoplakia group was significantly higher than that in the p27-negative leukoplakia group (3.9 +/- 3.6 vs. 1.5 +/- 1.6, p = 0.026). From these results, we suggest that the abundance of p27 in oral leukoplakia may inhibit cell proliferation and lead premalignant tumor cells to apoptosis, and thus is concerned with prevention of tumor progression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Fukui Medical University, Matsuoka-cho, Yoshida-gun, Fukui 910-11, Japan. hideaki@fmsrsa.fukui-med.ac.jp
authors.forename: Hideaki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tsuzuki
authors.forename: Shigeharu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fujieda
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sunaga
authors.forename: Norihiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Narita
authors.forename: Masaharu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tokuriki
authors.forename: Hitoshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Saito
mesh_terms: D017209:Apoptosis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D002455:Cell Division; D002467:Cell Nucleus / Q000737:chemistry; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000378:metabolism; D019938:Cyclin D1 / Q000032:analysis; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27; D003593:Cytoplasm / Q000737:chemistry; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000378:metabolism*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000473:pathology; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen / Q000032:analysis; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D018797:Cell Cycle Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; D018809:Proliferating Cell Nuclear Antigen; D025521:Tumor Suppressor Proteins; D019938:Cyclin D1; D050760:Cyclin-Dependent Kinase Inhibitor p27