Qian Hua, Yuan Donglan, Bao Jingjing, Liu Fuxing, Zhang Wenyan, Yang Xumei, Han Gaohua, Huang Junxing, Sheng Haihui, Yu Hong
Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Department of Pathology.
Medicine (Baltimore). 2019 Mar;98(10):e14608. doi: 10.1097/MD.0000000000014608.
Considering the essential role of plakophilin 3 (PKP3) in the maintenance cell-cell adhesion, dysregulation of PKP3 is involved in human diseases. This study aimed to explore the clinical significance of PKP3 in ovarian cancer. Immunohistochemistry was performed to examine the PKP3 expression in 157 cancer specimens from primary ovarian cancer patients. PKP3 was expressed in both the cytoplasm and nucleus. Eighty-one (51.6%) out of 157 ovarian cancer tissues showed PKP3 expression, while absent expression was observed in normal ovarian tissues. High PKP3 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (LNM, P = .004) and advanced International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage (P = .013). Patients with high PKP3 expression had shorter overall survival (OS) than those with low PKP3 expression (60.2 months vs 74.2 months, P = .021). However, no association between PKP3 expression and progression-free survival (PFS) was observed (P = .790). Cox regression analysis indicated that PKP3 expression was an independently predictive factor for the OS of patient with ovarian cancer (adjusted HR = 1.601, 95%CI: 1.014-2.528, P = .043), especially those with FIGO stages III and IV disease (adjusted HR = 1.607, 95%CI: 1.006-2.567, P = .047). The gene expression profiling interactive analysis (GEPIA) databases also showed that PKP3 was upregulated in ovarian cancer (P < .001) and patients with high PKP3 expression had shorter OS (P = .004). In conclusion, our findings suggest that PKP3 is upregulated in ovarian cancer and is likely involved in the progression of ovarian cancer. PKP3 might therefore serve as a prognostic biomarker for patients with ovarian cancer.
鉴于桥粒芯蛋白3（PKP3）在维持细胞间黏附中的重要作用，PKP3的失调与人类疾病有关。本研究旨在探讨PKP3在卵巢癌中的临床意义。采用免疫组织化学法检测157例原发性卵巢癌患者癌组织标本中PKP3的表达。PKP3在细胞质和细胞核中均有表达。157例卵巢癌组织中有81例（51.6%）显示PKP3表达，而在正常卵巢组织中未观察到表达。PKP3高表达与淋巴结转移（LNM，P = 0.004）及国际妇产科联盟（FIGO）晚期（P = 0.013）相关。PKP3高表达患者的总生存期（OS）短于PKP3低表达患者（60.2个月对74.2个月，P = 0.021）。然而，未观察到PKP3表达与无进展生存期（PFS）之间存在关联（P = 0.790）。Cox回归分析表明，PKP3表达是卵巢癌患者OS的独立预测因素（校正风险比[HR]=1.601，95%置信区间[CI]：1.014 - 2.528，P = 0.043），尤其是FIGO III期和IV期疾病患者（校正HR = 1.607，95%CI：1.006 - 2.567，P = .047）。基因表达谱交互分析（GEPIA）数据库也显示，PKP3在卵巢癌中上调（P < 0.001），且PKP3高表达患者的OS较短（P = 0.004）。总之，我们的研究结果表明，PKP3在卵巢癌中上调，可能参与卵巢癌的进展。因此，PKP3可能作为卵巢癌患者的预后生物标志物。
