Objective: To investigate the expression and significance of TR4-associated Protein (TRA16) in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tissues.
Methods: Immunohistochemistry (IHC) and tissue array were employed to investigate the expression of TRA16 in NSCLC cases of different pathological types, benign lung lesions and normal lung tissues.
Results: The abundant expression of TRA16 was observed in nucleus and/or cytoplasm of NSCLC cells with a positive expression rate of 88.64%, whereas normal lung tissue and benign lung tumor rarely expressed TRA16 protein. The expression of TRA16 showed no apparent difference at pathotypes and differentiation levels.
Conclusion: In this study we demonstrated an abnormal overexpression of TRA16 in NSCLC tissues. The unique expression pattern of TRA16 indicated its probable role in tumorigenesis and progression, supporting the development of TRA16 as a novel potential NSCLC marker.