Cui Zhaolei, Lin Yingying, Hu Dan, Wu Jing, Peng Wei, Chen Yan
Laboratory of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research, Department of Clinical Laboratory, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Department of Pathology, Fujian Medical University Cancer Hospital, Fuzhou, China.
Front Mol Biosci. 2021 Oct 28;8:724373. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.724373. eCollection 2021.
Current biomarkers for nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) are less effective for early diagnosis and prognosis. The basic leucine zipper ATF-like transcription factor 2 (BATF2) gene has been shown to have a tight association with the pathogenesis of various malignancies but received scant attention in NPC research. We aimed to assess the performances of circulating and tissue BATF2 in the diagnosis and prognosis of NPC. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) microarrays were performed to quantitate the BATF2 protein expression in NPC tissues. The relationships of BATF2 protein expression with clinicopathological characteristics and NPC prognosis were assessed. mRNA expressions in serum and serum-derived exosomes were determined using quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) assay. The IHC microarrays revealed a predominant nuclear expression of BATF2 in NPC cells. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that BATF2-positive NPC patients enjoyed longer overall survival than BATF2-negative patients. NPC patients with serum and exosomal mRNA expressions made up 51.47 and 48.52% of all patients, respectively. The AUCs of serum and exosomal mRNA expressions in discriminating NPC from healthy controls were 0.9409 and 0.8983. Patients who had received radiochemotherapy exhibited higher serum and exosomal mRNA expressions versus the levels at baseline as well as those detected in recurrent patients. BATF2 is expressed cancerous tissues, serum, and serum-derived exosomes in NPC patients. Circulating and tissue BATF2 can serve as a multipurpose biomarker capable of the diagnosis, prognosis prediction, efficacy evaluation, and recurrence monitoring in NPC.
目前用于鼻咽癌（NPC）的生物标志物在早期诊断和预后评估方面效果欠佳。碱性亮氨酸拉链ATF样转录因子2（BATF2）基因已被证明与多种恶性肿瘤的发病机制密切相关，但在鼻咽癌研究中却很少受到关注。我们旨在评估循环和组织中的BATF2在鼻咽癌诊断和预后方面的表现。通过免疫组织化学（IHC）微阵列定量检测鼻咽癌组织中BATF2蛋白的表达。评估BATF2蛋白表达与临床病理特征及鼻咽癌预后的关系。采用定量逆转录-聚合酶链反应（qRT-PCR）检测血清及血清来源外泌体中的mRNA表达。IHC微阵列显示BATF2在鼻咽癌细胞中主要呈核表达。Kaplan-Meier生存分析表明，BATF2阳性的鼻咽癌患者总生存期长于BATF2阴性患者。血清和外泌体mRNA表达阳性的鼻咽癌患者分别占所有患者的51.47%和48.52%。血清和外泌体mRNA表达区分鼻咽癌与健康对照的曲线下面积（AUC）分别为0.9409和0.8983。接受放化疗的患者血清和外泌体mRNA表达水平高于基线水平以及复发患者检测到的水平。BATF2在鼻咽癌患者的癌组织、血清及血清来源外泌体中均有表达。循环和组织中的BATF2可作为一种多功能生物标志物，用于鼻咽癌的诊断、预后预测、疗效评估和复发监测。
