OBJECTIVE

To investigate the expression levels of Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) tissue and the adjacent normal epithelial tissue.

METHOD

Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR) and Western-blot were used to detect the expression of TLR2 mRNA and protein levels in the tumors and adjacent normal epithelial tissues in 22 patients with LSCC, while vocal cord polyps were used as control.

RESULT

RT-PCR demonstrated that TLR2 mRNA expressed obviously in both of tumor and adjacent tissue, but rarely in control. The expression levels of TLR2 mRNA in tumor is higher than that in adjacent normal epithelial tissue (t=4.279, P<0.01). It's expression intensity was closely related to LSCC clinical stage (F=5.496, P<0.05)and lymph node metastasis status (N stage of tumor) (F = 4.271, P<0.05). The protein levels of TLR2 were consistent with mRNA expression.

CONCLUSION

Both mRNA and protein levels of TLR2 were obviously elevated in LSCC, which were associated closely with tumor clinical stage and lymph node metastasis. It is indicated that TLR2 may play an important role by multiple mechanism in laryngeal carcinoma process.