Down-regulation of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma correlated with tumorigenesis, not with metastasis

• Published in: International journal of clinical and experimental pathology Vol. 8; no. 8; pp. 8857 - 8868
• Main Authors: Wang, Lei, Chen, Chen, Li, Fen, Hua, Qingquan, Chen, Shiming, Xiao, Bokui, Dai, Mengyuan, Li, Man, Zheng, Anyuan, Yu, Di, Hu, Zhangwei, Tao, Zezhang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States e-Century Publishing Corporation 01.01.2015
• Subjects: Acute-Phase Proteins - biosynthesis; Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biomarkers, Tumor - analysis; Blotting, Western; Carcinogenesis - genetics; Carcinogenesis - pathology; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - genetics; Carcinoma, Squamous Cell - pathology; Down-Regulation; Female; Head and Neck Neoplasms - genetics; Head and Neck Neoplasms - pathology; Humans; Immunohistochemistry; Lipocalin-2; Lipocalins - biosynthesis; Male; Middle Aged; Neoplasm Invasiveness - genetics; Neoplasm Invasiveness - pathology; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis; Original; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - biosynthesis; Retrospective Studies; Squamous Cell Carcinoma of Head and Neck; Tissue Array Analysis; Transcriptome; Young Adult; NGAL; GEO dataset; biomarker; tissue microassay; HNSCC
• ISSN: 1936-2625

To examine the significance of the Neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) in diagnosing head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) and predicting regional metastasis. We first used GEO dataset to analyze the NGAL gene expression in HNSCC. Then, we summarized the characteristics of patients retrospectively selected in clinic. Expression of NGAL protein in human HNSCC tumor, lymph node and normal samples were analyzed using immunohistochemistry. Next, we further investigated the NGAL expression in a tissue microassay to analyze the relationship between NGAL protein expression and TNM stage. Finally, we tested the NGAL protein expression in head and neck cancer cell lines. Analysis of GEO dataset concluded that NGAL gene expression in HNSCC was lower than that in normal tissue (P<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference of NGAL gene expression between T-stage and N-stage (P>0.05). NGAL protein expression in tumor was lower than that in normal tissue (P<0.01). There was no statistically significant difference of NGAL protein expression between metastasis group and non-metastasis group (P>0.05). Expression of NGAL protein was not correlated with TNM stage of HNSCC. Aggressive HNSCC cell lines have lower NGAL protein expression. Our data demonstrated that the expression of NGAL protein was correlated with tumorigenesis of HNSCC, but not with regional metastasis. It may serve as a novel biomarker for prognostic evaluation of patients with HNSCC.