Background and objective: It has been proven that the expression of ZO-1 (zonula occluden-1) was correlated with the growth and metastasis of cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between ZO-1 gene expression and clinicopathologic parameters and the survival rates in the patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).
Methods: The expression levels of ZO-1 gene in 101 patients with NSCLC and lung tissues of 61 patients with benign lung disease were detected by real-time PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemical techniques.
Results: There was a significant statistic difference of ZO-1 mRNA expression levels between carcinoma group and control group (P < 0.01). In carcinoma group, adjacent group and control group, ZO-1 protein expression levels were with significantly statistic difference between each other (P < 0.01 or P < 0.05). There was a significantly statistic difference between ZO-1 mRNA expression levels in survival during 2 years follow-up group and death during 2 years follow-up group (t=-5.61, P < 0.01).
Conclusions: ZO-1 is a valuable predictive marker for NSCLC patients.
背景与目的: 已有的研究表明紧密连接蛋白-1（zonula occluden-1, ZO-1）表达和肿瘤细胞的生长和转移存在密切联系。本研究旨在探讨非小细胞肺癌（non-small cell lung cancer, NSCLC）组织中ZO-1表达的临床意义。
方法: 应用实时荧光定量PCR、Western blot和免疫组化检测101例NSCLC癌组织及癌旁组织中ZO-1 mRNA和蛋白表达，以61例肺部良性病变患者作为对照。
结果: ZO-1 mRNA在癌组织和肺良性病变组织间差异具有统计学意义（P＜0.01）。Western blot显示：ZO-1蛋白在癌组织、癌旁组织、肺良性病变组织的相对表达量之间均存在明显差异（P＜0.01或P＜0.05）。免疫组化显示：ZO-1平均光密度在癌组织、癌旁组织和肺良性病变组织中分别为69.55± 17.13、246.39±83.15、330.93±72.44，组间差异均具有统计学意义（P＜0.01）。伴有淋巴结转移与不伴淋巴结转移肺癌组织ZO-1 mRNA表达水平比较有显著性差异（t=-5.07, P＜0.01），肺癌患者术后2年内生存组和2年内死亡组间ZO-1 mRNA表达水平比较差异具有统计学意义（t=5.61, P＜0.01）。
结论: ZO-1 mRNA和蛋白在NSCLC癌组织中表达降低，并与淋巴结转移的术后生存有密切关系。