Singh Baldeep, Aggarwal Sadhna, Das Priyanka, Srivastava Sunil K, Sharma Suresh C, Das Satya N
Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi, 110029 India.
Department of ENT, Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru Memorial Medical College, Raipur, 492001 Chhattisgarh India.
Indian J Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2023 Mar;75(1):109-114. doi: 10.1007/s12070-022-03200-3. Epub 2022 Oct 6.
Cancer stem cell marker CD44 is a cell-surface glycoprotein which is involved in various cellular functions such as cell-cell interactions, cell adhesion, haematopoiesis and tumour metastasis. The CD44 gene transcription is partly activated by beta-catenin and Wnt signalling pathway, the later pathway being linked to tumour development. However, the role of CD44 in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is not well understood. We investigated the expression of CD44 in peripheral circulation, tumour tissues of oral cancer patients and oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines by ELISA and quantitative (q)-RTPCR. Relative CD44s mRNA expression was significantly higher in peripheral circulation ( = 0.04), tumour tissues ( = 0.049) and in oral cancer cell lines (SCC4, SCC25 = 0.02, SCC9 = 0.03). Circulating CD44 protein levels were also significantly ( < 0.001) higher in OSCC patients that positively correlated with increasing tumour load and loco-regional spread of the tumour. The circulating tumour stem cell marker CD44 appears to be a potent indicator of tumour progression and may be useful for developing suitable therapeutics strategies for patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma.
癌症干细胞标志物CD44是一种细胞表面糖蛋白，参与多种细胞功能，如细胞间相互作用、细胞黏附、造血作用和肿瘤转移。CD44基因转录部分由β-连环蛋白和Wnt信号通路激活，后一通路与肿瘤发展相关。然而，CD44在口腔鳞状细胞癌（OSCC）中的作用尚未完全明确。我们通过酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）和定量逆转录聚合酶链反应（q-RTPCR）研究了CD44在口腔癌患者外周血、肿瘤组织及口腔鳞状细胞癌细胞系中的表达情况。外周血（P = 0.04）、肿瘤组织（P = 0.049）及口腔癌细胞系（SCC4、SCC25，P = 0.02；SCC9，P = 0.03）中相对CD44s mRNA表达均显著升高。口腔鳞状细胞癌患者循环中CD44蛋白水平也显著升高（P < 0.001），且与肿瘤负荷增加及肿瘤局部区域扩散呈正相关。循环肿瘤干细胞标志物CD44似乎是肿瘤进展的有力指标，可能有助于为口腔鳞状细胞癌患者制定合适的治疗策略。
