Fu Yang, Zhuang Xuewei, Xia Xiyan, Li Xiaohui, Xiao Ke, Liu Xiaojing
Department of Reproductive Medicine Center, Jinan Maternity and Child Care Hospital, Jinan, 250001, People's Republic of China.
Department of Clinical Laboratory Medicine, Shandong Provincial Third Hospital, Cheeloo College of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan, 250031, People's Republic of China.
Int J Gen Med. 2021 Mar 19;14:957-965. doi: 10.2147/IJGM.S294392. eCollection 2021.
Syncytin-1 is a human endogenous retroviral () envelope protein, which has been implicated in trophoblast and cancer cell fusions as well as in immunomodulatory functions. We investigated syncytin-1 expression and promoter methylation in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the adjacent, para-carcinoma tissues. In addition, the correlation to patient survival differentiation of between 5-year survival and death group was analyzed.
Survival ratio was calculated by Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Death risk assessment was executed by Cox risk regression model. The 5'-LTR methylation level of promoter was detected by EpiTYPER method.
Syncytin-1 expression in NSCLC tissue was found to be significantly higher than in para-carcinoma tissues. Moreover, the 5-year survival group has a lower syncytin-1 expression than the death group. Clinical stage and the percentage of syncytin-1 positive cells were top risk factors according to Cox ratio risk regression model analysis. While the methylation level of the 5'-LTR in gene promoter was relatively lower in NSCLC than para-carcinoma tissues, the methylation status of a CpG-2 site overlapping the Oct-1 binding site was found to be an important element potentially involved in the epigenetic regulation of gene expression.
These findings suggest that syncytin-1 could be a biomarker for the diagnosis/prognosis of NSCLC, and further studies are required to elucidate the exact role of syncytin-1 in the development of NSCLC as well as the underlying molecular mechanism for syncytin-1 function and regulation.
合胞素-1是一种人类内源性逆转录病毒（）包膜蛋白，它与滋养层细胞和癌细胞融合以及免疫调节功能有关。我们研究了非小细胞肺癌（NSCLC）及其相邻癌旁组织中合胞素-1的表达和启动子甲基化情况。此外，还分析了5年生存组和死亡组之间5年生存率与患者生存分化的相关性。
通过Kaplan-Meier生存曲线计算生存率。采用Cox风险回归模型进行死亡风险评估。用EpiTYPER方法检测启动子的5'-LTR甲基化水平。
发现NSCLC组织中合胞素-1的表达显著高于癌旁组织。此外，5年生存组的合胞素-1表达低于死亡组。根据Cox比例风险回归模型分析，临床分期和合胞素-1阳性细胞百分比是首要危险因素。虽然NSCLC中基因启动子的5'-LTR甲基化水平相对低于癌旁组织，但发现与Oct-1结合位点重叠的一个CpG-2位点的甲基化状态可能是参与基因表达表观遗传调控的重要因素。
这些发现表明合胞素-1可能是NSCLC诊断/预后的生物标志物，需要进一步研究以阐明合胞素-1在NSCLC发生发展中的确切作用以及合胞素-1功能和调控的潜在分子机制。
