Universidad de Murcia, Departamento de Biologia Celular e Histiologia
Abstract
. Background. A large body of scientific
evidence points to the important roles of tight junction
proteins in tumor development, progression and
dissemination. The larynx has only a few studies,
analyzing the role of this group of junctional proteins in
its oncogenesis. In this study, the author sheds some
light on the expression and possible role of claudin-1 in
laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas.
Materials and methods. This study analyzed the
expression of claudin-1, using immunohistochemistry, in
a tissue microarray of 80 cases of laryngeal squamous
cell cancers. Clinicopathological parameters were
analyzed according to claudin-1 expression in the tissue
microarray. Furthermore, the expression of slug/snail1,
an Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) linked
protein, was analyzed by immunohistochemistry in the
same microarray, and the expressions of the two proteins
were assessed for correlation.
Results. A significant majority of laryngeal
squamous cell cancers exhibited positive expression of
claudin-1 proteins. The majority of those tumors
expressed claudin-1 in their cytoplasm. The overall
majority of those same tumors also exhibited a
cytoplasmic shift of the slug-snail-1 protein from the
nuclei to the cytoplasm. There was also evidence of
correlation of the two proteins' expressions in the
cytoplasm of laryngeal tumors.
Conclusion. The above may suggest a role for
claudin-1 in the development and progression of laryngeal
squamous cell carcinoma. Overall, claudin-1's aberrant
expression in laryngeal cancer is in line with evidence
seen in other head and neck cancers. Its co-expression
with slug/snail-1 in LSCC patients should be investigated
further to understand the nature of the relationship of the
two proteins in LSCC and their possible contribution to its
development and progression