Objective To investigate the expressions of CXCR4 and β-catenin in pancreatic cancer, explore the relationship between them, and explore the possible biomarkers about invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Methods Forty-eight samples of pancreatic cancer and 20 samples of normal pancreas tissues were selected. The expressions of CXCR4 and β-catenin were examined by the immunohistological technique. Spearman, Chi-square， and rank test were used to analyze the relation between the protein expressions and clinical characteristics. Survival analysis was evaluated by Kaplan-Meier product limit method and Log-rank test. Variables were evaluated by Cox proportional hazards analysis. The size of test was 0.05. Results The positive expression rates of CXCR4 and β-catenin in pancreatic cancer tissues were 85.4% (41/48) and 75.0% (36/48), respectively. Co-expression rate of CXCR4 and β-catenin was 70.8% (34/48). There were significant differences between various CXCR4 staining and lymph node metastasis and TNM stage (P=0.012, 0.005, respectively). β-catenin positive expression was associated with lymph node metastasis (P=0.047). However, abnormal β-catenin positive expression could not determine the clinical survival. Kaplan-Meier estimated curves suggested that clinical prognosis was poor for patients with CXCR4 expression. Multivariate analysis showed that CXCR4, late TNM stage, and lymph node metastasis were independent prognostic factors for pancreatic cancer. Conclusions Both CXCR4 and β-catenin abnormally express in pancreatic cancer. CXCR4 may be an important marker for pancreatic cancer progression.
ObjectiveTo explore the expressions of prostaglandin F2α receptor (PTGFR) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in tissues of benign bile duct scar and their significances, and investigate the regulating effect of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) on the expression of PTGFR in human bile duct fibroblasts cultured in vitro. MethodsThe samples of common bile duct (CBD) scars were collected from 18 patients with benign bile duct scar stricture and 6 cases of normal CBD tissues from liver transplantation donor were collected as control. The expressions of PTGFR and COX-2 were detected by immunohistochemical strept-avidin-biotin complex (SABC) method. Semiquantitative RT-PCR and ELISA methods were used to detect the mRNA and protein levels of PTGFR in bile duct fibroblasts which were effected by TGF-β1 with different concentrations (0, 10, 20, and 30 ng/ml) for 24 h. ResultsThe positive rates of PTGFR and COX-2 were 88.9% (16/18) and 83.3% (15/18) in tissues of benigh CBD scar and 33.3% (2/6) and 0 (0/6) in normal CBD tissues (Plt;0.05). The expressions of the PTGFR mRNA and protein levels became upregulated when the concentrations of the TGF-β1 became higher in human bile duct fibroblasts (Plt;0.05). And the effect was concentration dependant to some extent. ConclusionsThe high expressions of PTGFR and COX-2 play important roles in the process of benign bile duct stricture formation. TGF-β1 is able to induce higher expressions of PTGFR mRNA level and the PTGFR protein level in a concentration dependent manner, and regulate the formation of benign bile duct stricture.