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.
Laboratoire de Génétique Moléculaire des Eucaryotes, Centre de Biotechnologie de Sfax route Sidi Mansour, BP "K" 3038 Sfax, Tunisia.
Ali
A
Fendri
Abdelmajid
A
Khabir
Boutheina
B
Hadhri-Guiga
Tahia
T
Sellami-Boudawara
Abdelmoonem
A
Ghorbel
Jamel
J
Daoud
Mounir
M
Frikha
Rachid
R
Jlidi
Ali
A
Gargouri
Raja
R
Mokdad-Gargouri
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