Yeh Kun-Tu, Chang Jan-Gowth, Lin Ting-Hsu, Wang Yu-Fen, Chang Jan-Yi, Shih Mu-Chin, Lin Cheng-Chieh
Department of Molecular Medicine, China Medical College Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.
Int J Oncol. 2003 Oct;23(4):1001-7.
The components of the Wnt-signaling pathway are reported to be mutated in human cancer cells, but the relationship between the components and oral squamous carcinoma (SCC) is still unknown. In this study, we analyzed the epigenetic changes and expression patterns of four member proteins of the Wnt-signaling pathway and analyzed the mutations of beta-catenin and AXIN 1 genes, in order to explore the roles of the pathway in the development of oral cancer. The results showed that there are no beta-catenin and AXIN 1 gene mutations and no methylation of the CpG island of beta-catenin, AXIN I and GSK3beta genes in oral cancer cells; methylation of the CpG island of APC occurs in the precancerous stage and it is a dynamic change; the aberrant expressions or abnormal localization of the Wnt-signaling pathway proteins have no relationship with methylation status or mutation. From our results, we suggest that the Wnt pathway related genes play a very limited role in the development of oral SCC.
据报道，Wnt信号通路的组成部分在人类癌细胞中发生了突变，但这些组成部分与口腔鳞状细胞癌（SCC）之间的关系仍不清楚。在本研究中，我们分析了Wnt信号通路四个成员蛋白的表观遗传变化和表达模式，并分析了β-连环蛋白和AXIN 1基因的突变情况，以探讨该通路在口腔癌发生发展中的作用。结果显示，口腔癌细胞中不存在β-连环蛋白和AXIN 1基因突变，β-连环蛋白、AXIN I和GSK3β基因的CpG岛未发生甲基化；APC基因的CpG岛甲基化发生在癌前阶段，且是一个动态变化过程；Wnt信号通路蛋白的异常表达或异常定位与甲基化状态或突变无关。根据我们的研究结果，我们认为Wnt通路相关基因在口腔SCC的发生发展中作用非常有限。
