[Expression of Twist and relation with epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oral squamous cell carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this paper was to study the expression of related protein and Twist transcription factor of epithelial-mesenchymal transition in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) tissue and the correlations of OSCC and oral squamous cell carcino-metastasis. The paper also investigated the clinical significance of expression on OSCC. METHODS: The labels of epithelium materialization (E-cadherin and cytokeratin), stromal labels (N-cadherin), transcription factor Twist protein, and mRNA expression in 30 OSCC tissues were investigated via immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization. The paper also conducted contrast analysis with clinicopathology. RESULTS: Immunization result showed that the expressions of Twist and N-cadherin in the OSCC group were more significant than those of the normal group (P<0.05). The expressions of E-cadherin and keratin in OSCC were significantly lower than those of the normal group (P<0.05). In the moderate- and low-differentiated group of OSCC, the expressions of Twist and N-cadherin were higher than those of the high-differentiated group (P<0.05). The expressions of E-cadherin and keratin were lower than those in the high-differentiated group (P<0.05). In the lymphatic metastasis group, the expressions of Twist and N-cadherin were higher than those of no-lymphatic metastasis group (P<0.05). The expressions of E-cadherin and keratin were lower than those of the no-lymphatic metastasis group (P< 0.05). Results of in situ hybridization showed that the expression of Twist mRNA in the moderate- and low-differentiated groups of OSCC, T3, and T4 groups as well as that of the lymphatic metastasis group were higher than those of the high-differentiated, T1 and T2 groups, and no-separate lymphatic metastasis group, and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Epithelium materialization exists in OSCC tissue. Twist can enhance the invasiveness of tumor cell and promote the infiltration and metastasis of OSCC. The combined detection of Twist, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin expressions can effectively predict and estimate OSCC metastasis.