Brennan Peter A, Umar Tijjani, Wilson Alan W, Mellor Timothy K
Specialist Registrar, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Poole Hospital, Poole, Dorset, England.
J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2002 Dec;60(12):1455-60. doi: 10.1053/joms.2002.36122.
The small molecule nitric oxide (NO), produced by a family of enzymes called NO synthase (NOS), has a diverse array of functions in both physiologic and pathologic states. Prolonged production of NO by the isoform NOS2 has been implicated in human cancer progression. NO has an important role in angiogenesis, being both an upstream signal and a downstream effector molecule to vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). The latter group of proteins are crucial for vascular endothelial cell proliferation and permeability. The expression of VEGF increases with cancer progression. Because angiogenesis is a prerequisite for the development of invasive cancer, this immunohistochemical study investigated the expression of NOS2 and VEGF in oral epithelial dysplasia.
An immunohistochemical study was performed using monoclonal antibodies to NOS2 and VEGF on archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissue of 33 cases of oral dysplasia.
A significant correlation was found between NOS2 and VEGF expression in oral dysplasia (P <.001). Expression of both NOS2 and VEGF also correlated with the severity of dysplasia (P <.001, P <.002).
These findings may provide further understanding to the complex transformation of oral epithelial dysplasia to invasive carcinoma and the role of angiogenesis in this process.
由一氧化氮合酶（NOS）家族产生的小分子一氧化氮（NO）在生理和病理状态下具有多种功能。异构体NOS2长时间产生NO与人类癌症进展有关。NO在血管生成中起重要作用，既是血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）的上游信号，也是下游效应分子。后一组蛋白质对血管内皮细胞增殖和通透性至关重要。VEGF的表达随癌症进展而增加。由于血管生成是浸润性癌症发展的先决条件，因此本免疫组织化学研究调查了NOS2和VEGF在口腔上皮发育异常中的表达。
使用针对NOS2和VEGF的单克隆抗体对33例口腔发育异常的存档福尔马林固定、石蜡包埋组织进行免疫组织化学研究。
在口腔发育异常中，NOS2和VEGF表达之间存在显著相关性（P <.001）。NOS2和VEGF的表达也与发育异常的严重程度相关（P <.001，P <.002）。
这些发现可能为进一步理解口腔上皮发育异常向浸润性癌的复杂转变以及血管生成在此过程中的作用提供帮助。
