title: Overexpression of protease nexin-1 mRNA and protein in oral squamous cell carcinomas.
abstract: Protease nexin-1 (PN-1) belongs to the serpin family of serine protease inhibitors. It is the phylogenetically closest relative of plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1). Whilst there are numerous studies of the occurrence and functions of PAI-1 in cancer, a possible tumour biological role of PN-1 has been almost totally neglected. We have now compared the level of PN-1 mRNA in 20 cases of oral squamous cell carcinomas and in matched samples of the corresponding normal oral tissues. We found that the average PN-1 mRNA level in tumours and normal tissues was significantly different, being increased up to 13 fold in tumour samples compared with the average level in normal tissues. The PN-1 mRNA level was significantly higher in tumours from patients with lymph node metastasis than in tumours from patients without. We could conclude that PN-1 is frequently overexpressed in oral squamous cell carcinomas and that its level may correlate with the occurrence of lymph node metastasis. We hypothesise that PN-1 may have a tumour biological function similar to that of PAI-1.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Biology, University of Aarhus, Gustav Wied's Vej 10C, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. shg@mb.au.dk <shg@mb.au.dk>
authors.forename: Shan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Annelise
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krogdahl
authors.forename: Jens Ahm
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: Tina M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Kousted
authors.forename: Erik
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dabelsteen
authors.forename: Peter A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Andreasen
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000737:chemistry*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D015151:Immunoblotting; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000737:chemistry*; D058255:Protease Nexins; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000032:analysis* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D058258:Serpin E2
chemical_list: D016564:Amyloid beta-Protein Precursor; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D058255:Protease Nexins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface; C545486:SERPINE2 protein, human; D058258:Serpin E2