Affiliations: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Dongsheng Zhang, Proffessor, Dean, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University, 324 Jingwu Road, Jinan 250021, China. Tel.: +86 531 68776950; Fax: +86 531 87035697; E-mail: ds63zhang@sdu.edu.cn
Abstract:
BACKGROUND: The expression of Bcl-2/adenovirus E1B 19
kDa-interacting protein3 (BNIP3) has been explored in many human
malignancies, but not in adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC). OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the clinical significance of
expression of BNIP3 in ACC tissues and cells and elucidated its correlations
to hypoxia-induced autophagy. METHODS: Immunohistochemical and immunofluorescence staining were
used to explore BNIP3, HIF-1α and LC3 expression. RESULTS: BNIP3 was positively expressed in 41 cases (63.1%), and
was significantly correlated with histological grade (P= 0.001). HIF-1α
was positively expressed in 52 cases (80.0%) and was significantly
correlated with TNM stage (P= 0.023) and histological grade (P= 0.024). LC3
was positively expressed in 37 cases (56.9%) and was significantly
correlated with TNM stage (P= 0.019). The expression of BNIP3 was correlated
with HIF-1α expression (P= 0.011). The overall survival in the
negative BNIP3 expression group tended to be better than in the positive
BNIP3 expression (P= 0.011). In vitro experiment, BNIP3 immunofluorescence
staining was detected in cells treated with CoCl2 (for hypoxic
condition). CONCLUSIONS: The data indicated that BNIP3 plays a vital role in
the tumorigenesis of adenoid cystic carcinoma and could be a new target for
gene therapy of adenoid cystic carcinoma.
