A plausible anti-apoptotic role of up-regulated OCT4B1 in bladder tumors.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate and compare the expression of OCT4B1 between tumor and non-tumor bladder tissues.


METHODS
We investigated the expression of OCT4B1 in 30 tumor and non-tumor surgical specimens of the bladder, using the TaqMan real-time polymerase chain reaction approach and by carefully designing primers and probes specific for the amplification of the variant.


RESULTS
Most tumor and non-tumor samples of the bladder showed OCT4B1 expression, but its expression level was significantly higher in the tumors (P < .002). Moreover, the up-regulation of OCT4B1 was more significant in high-grade tumors compared to the low-grade ones (P < .05). We have also employed the RNA interference strategy to evaluate the functional role of OCT4B1 in a bladder cancer cell line, 5637. Suppression of OCT4B1 caused some changes in cell cycle distribution, and significantly elevated the rate of apoptosis in the cells.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings suggest that OCT4B1 plays a potential role in tumor initiation and/or progression of the bladder cancer. Additionally, OCT4B1 can be regarded as a new tumor marker for detection, classification, and treatment of the bladder cancer. However, more experimental studies are needed to replicate our findings.
Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Biological Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
Jamshid
J
Asadzadeh
Malek Hossein
MH
Asadi
Nasser
N
Shakhssalim
Mahmoud-Reza
MR
Rafiee
Hamid Reza
HR
Kalhor
Mahmoud
M
Tavallaei
Seyed Javad
SJ
Mowla
D017209:Apoptosis; D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor / Q000378:metabolism*; D002453:Cell Cycle; D045744:Cell Line, Tumor; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3 / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D034622:RNA Interference; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015854:Up-Regulation; D001749:Urinary Bladder Neoplasms / Q000378:metabolism*
D014408:Biomarkers, Tumor; D050814:Octamer Transcription Factor-3