Affiliations: [a] Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China | [b] Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Oral Tissue Regeneration, Shandong, China | [c] Yantai Stomatological Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, China | [d] Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Xuxia Wang, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, School of Stomatology, Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, China. Tel.: +86 531 88382840; Fax: +86 531 82950194; E-mail:xuxiawang@126.com,wxx@sdu.edu.cn
Note: [1] The first two authors contributed equally to the work.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: BTB/POZ domain-containing protein 7 (BTBD7) is
recognized as a regulatory gene that regulates epithelial cell dynamics and
branching morphogenesis. It is also reported for regulating
epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) molecules and involved in the
process of invasion and metastasis of lung cancer and hepatocellular
carcinoma. Slug is a transcriptional factor of EMT which plays a crucial
role in the process of primary salivary adenoid cystic carcinoma (SACC).
However, the role of BTBD7 in SACC and the correlation with Slug have not
been identified. This study investigated the expression of BTBD7 and
correlation with Slug, as well as the prognostic significance of BTBD7 in
SACC. METHODS: The expression of BTBD7 and Slug were examined in ACC-LM
and ACC-83 cell lines and immunohistochemically in paraffin embedded tissue
specimens from 66 primary SACC patients. Statistical analyses were performed
to evaluate the correlation between BTBD7 expression and Slug expression and
the prognostic significance of BTBD7 expression. RESULTS: BTBD7 protein expression was initially verified in ACC-LM
and ACC-83 cell lines. The positive rate of BTBD7 expression was 62.1% in
SACC to 20% in normal salivary tissues comparatively. BTBD7 expression
was significantly correlated with Slug expression in SACC (P< 0.05).
Increased BTBD7 expression was significantly associated with the TNM stage,
tissue typing, distant metastasis and patients' poor clinical outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Positive expression of BTBD7 in SACC could play an
important role in the development of cancer and may serve as a favorable
predictor for diagnosis and poor prognosis of patients.
