Muller D, Wolf C, Abecassis J, Millon R, Engelmann A, Bronner G, Rouyer N, Rio M C, Eber M, Methlin G
Centre de Lutte contre le Cancer Paul Strauss, Strasbourg, France.
Cancer Res. 1993 Jan 1;53(1):165-9.
Matrix metalloproteinases are believed to play an important role in tumor invasion and metastasis. To examine the expression of the stromelysin 3 (ST3) gene, a new member of the matrix metalloproteinase gene family, 111 head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and 21 metastatic lymph nodes were analyzed by Northern blot. ST3 gene expression was observed in 106 carcinomas and 19 metastatic nodes, but in only 2 of 60 samples of corresponding normal tissue tested in parallel. ST3 RNA, by in situ hybridization, and ST3 protein, by immunohistochemical analysis, were specifically detected in fibroblastic cells immediately surrounding invasive cancer cells. This fibroblastic expression of the ST3 gene is characteristic among the matrix metalloproteinase genes known to be overexpressed in head and neck carcinomas, since stromelysin 2 transcripts were specifically detected in neoplastic cells, and type I collagenase transcripts in both neoplastic cells and stromal fibroblasts. Furthermore, there was a highly significant positive correlation (P < 0.0001) between ST3 RNA levels and local invasiveness by the cancer cells, suggesting that enhanced expression of the ST3 gene may contribute to the neoplastic phenotype in head and neck carcinomas.
基质金属蛋白酶被认为在肿瘤侵袭和转移中起重要作用。为检测基质金属蛋白酶基因家族的新成员基质溶解素3（ST3）基因的表达，采用Northern印迹法分析了111例头颈部鳞状细胞癌和21个转移淋巴结。在106例癌组织和19个转移淋巴结中观察到ST3基因表达，但在同时检测的60份相应正常组织样本中只有2份检测到。通过原位杂交在紧邻浸润癌细胞的成纤维细胞中特异性检测到ST3 RNA，通过免疫组织化学分析在这些细胞中特异性检测到ST3蛋白。已知在头颈部癌中过表达的基质金属蛋白酶基因中，ST3基因的这种成纤维细胞表达具有特征性，因为基质溶解素2转录本在肿瘤细胞中特异性检测到，而I型胶原酶转录本在肿瘤细胞和基质成纤维细胞中均检测到。此外，ST3 RNA水平与癌细胞的局部侵袭性之间存在高度显著的正相关（P < 0.0001），提示ST3基因表达增强可能对头颈部癌的肿瘤表型有影响。
