Overexpression of COX-2 and LMP1 are correlated with lymph node in Tunisian NPC patients.
Cyclooxygenase 2 (COX-2) an inducible form of COX is frequently up-regulated in many human tumours. The expression of COX-2 in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) and its relationship to clinicopathological features were studied in Tunisian patients. COX-2 mRNA was detected in 91% of tumour tissues. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that COX-2 protein was strongly detected in tumour cells and the staining was mainly cytoplasmic. In contrast, COX-2 mRNA and protein were very low or undetectable in normal nasopharyngeal mucosa. Our result showed a significant association of COX-2 overexpression with the lymph node involvement, however, no correlation was observed with age, tumour stage, histological type and distant metastasis. Moreover, we showed that all tumour specimens co-overexpressed COX-2 and the EBV oncoprotein LMP1 corroborating the fact that LPM1 is known to induce COX-2. Altogether, our data suggests that the COX-2 is overexpressed in NPC biopsies and that is linked to the lymph node involvement.
Fendri
Ali
A
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Eucaryotes, Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax route Sidi Mansour, BP "K" 3038 Sfax, Tunisia.
Khabir
Abdelmajid
A
Hadhri-Guiga
Boutheina
B
Sellami-Boudawara
Tahia
T
Ghorbel
Abdelmoonem
A
Daoud
Jamel
J
Frikha
Mounir
M
Jlidi
Rachid
R
Gargouri
Ali
A
Mokdad-Gargouri
Raja
R
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000378:metabolism*; D002648:Child; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D008207:Lymphatic Metastasis; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009303:Nasopharyngeal Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation; D055815:Young Adult
D048868:Adaptor Proteins, Signal Transducing; D003598:Cytoskeletal Proteins; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D060588:LIM Domain Proteins; D009363:Neoplasm Proteins; C484380:PDLIM7 protein, human; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D051546:Cyclooxygenase 2