| Over the past two decades, an increased incidence was observed in cervical cancer and patients are diagnosed at a younger age. Invasion and nodal metastasis are major contributors to the poor prognosis and death of patients with cervical cancer. However, the molecular mechanism of the progression of cancer cell invasion and metastasis has not been fully elucidated. Ezrin, one important member of ezrin/radixin/moesin (ERM) protein family, acts as a membrane organizer and linker between plasma membrane and cytoskeleton. Aberrant expression of Ezrin has been implicated in a variety of cancers, including digestive tract tumors, melanoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma, adult soft tissue tumor, leiomyosarcoma and osteosarcoma in children, and is associated with tumorigenesis, invasion and metastasis, and prognosis. Dysregulated expression of Ezrin in cancer cells indicate that Ezrin may play an important role in cancer invasion and metastasis.However, the role of ezrin in cervical cancer development is still largely elusive. In present study, we try to delineate the expression of ezrin, analyze the association of ezrin expression with the clinical characteristics, and evaluate the function of ezrin in cervical cancer.Differential expression of Ezrin between normal cervical tissues and cervical cancer tissuesObjection:This study is aimed to determine the differential expression of Ezrin between cervical cancer tissues and normal controls and to explore the association of Ezrin expression with clinical pathological characteristics and with the expression of PCNA, MMP-2, MMP-9and HPV.Methods:Retrospective study was performed among30cervical cancer tissue samples which were diagnosed in our hospital from January2002to December2006. Ten normal cervixes from uterine myomas were employed as normal controls. Semi-quantitative immunohistochemisty analysis was performed to detect the association of Ezrin expression with clinical pathological characteristics, and with expression of PCNA, MMP-2and MMP-9, HPV E6protein in cervical cancer tissue and normal controls, and with clinical. Analyze the association of Ezrin expression with the clinical characteristics.Results:The expression of Ezrin was strong and the distribution was diffuse mainly in the cytoplasm and membrane in cervical cancer tissues, while, the normal cervical tissues was weak and mainly in the membrane. However, there was no significant association between the expression of Ezrin and the clinical characteristics including tumor stage, histology and grade. Ezrin expression was weakly correlated with the expression of MMP-2, MMP-9and HPV in cervical cancer tissues, except PCNA.Conclusion:Ezrin was over-expressed in cervical cancer tissues and may be involved in the progress of invasion and metastasis in cervical cancer.Functional study of Ezrin in cervical cancer cellsObjection:To study the function of Ezrin in cervical cancer cells. Methods:Loss-of-function studies by siRNA were performed in two cervical cancer cell lines, SiHa and CaSki. Real-time PCR and Western Blot analysis were employed to validate the knockdown efficiency of Ezrin expression at mRNA and protein level respectively. Subsequently, wound healing assay, transwell assay, and SRB assay were used to detect the migration, invasion, and viability of cervical cancer cells.Results:Functional study revealed that Ezrin downregulation by siRNA could notably inhibit the migration and invasion of the two cervical cell lines, without significantly affecting the viability of cervical cancer cells.Conclusion:Ezrin may play a key role in the migration and invasion of cervical cancer cells, and thus may be a therapeutic target to prevent metastasis of cervical cancer. |
