| Objective:To investigate the expression features of AQP5in cervical endotheliment and the correlation between AQP5and the clinicopathological characteristics in patients with cervical carcinoma, and the potential effect of AQP5and E-cadherin during the carcinogenesis and progress of cervical carcinoma.Methods:The expression level of AQP5and E-cadherin were detected by western blotting in cervical squamous cell carcinoma, cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and normal cervical tissues.The expression and distribution characteristics of AQP5and E-cadherin were detected by immunohistochemistry in56cases of cervical squamous cell carcinoma,28cases of CIN and30cases of normal cervical tissues. The clinicopathological parameters of these proteins were analyzed statistically.Results:The expression of AQP5in the cytoplasm and (or) the cell membrane of normal cervical endotheliment, CIN and cervical squamous cell carcinomas increased gradually. There were statistically difference between the three groups(χ2=22.404, P=0.000). Overexpression of AQP5was correlated with lymph node metastasis(r=0.351, P=0.008) in patients with cervical carcinoma. No correlation was found between AQP5protein expression and histological grade, age, FIGO stage or tumor size. The expression of E-cadherin in the cell membrane of normal cervical endotheliment, CIN and cervical squamous cell carcinomas decreased gradually or disappeared, but increased in the cytoplasm. There were statistically difference between the three groups (χ=31.500, P=0.000). Down-regulated expression of E-cadherin was correlated with differentiation grade (r=0.437, P=0.001), FIGO stage (r=0.284, P=0.034) and lymph node metastasis (r=-0.311, P=0.020) in patients with cervical carcinoma. Furthermore, the up-regulated expression of AQP5were also correlated with abnormal expression of E-cadherin.Conclusions:These observations suggest that increased expression of AQP5were related to the malignant transformation of normal cervical endotheliment and the carcinogenesis of cervical carcinoma. Overexpression of AQP5, combining with abnormal E-cadherin expression in primary cervical carcinoma tissues, may predict the malignant transformation and lymphatic metastasis of carcinomas, which not only provide a novel molecular target, but also a prospective biomarker for the diagnosis and treatment of cervical carcinoma. |
