Chinese Journal of Lung Cancer (Feb 2008)
Preliminary investigation on expression of Bmi-1 in non-small-cellular lung cancer
Abstract
Background and objective B-cell-specific Moloney leukemia virus insertion site 1 (Bmi-1) gene, which plays a critical role in directional differentiation and proliferation of cells, is significant in malignant transformation of cells. The aim of this study is to investigate the levels of Bmi-1 in non-small-cell lung cancer(NSCLC), and to preliminarily analyze the correlation between Bmi-1 and the development of NSCLC tissue. Methods The expression of Bmi-1 was detected in 25 NSCLC tissues as well as in the normal paracancerous lung tissues by immunofluorescence technique and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). Results Immunofluorescently, the positive expression of Bmi-1 proteins was revealed in nucleus of tumor cells in 76(19/25) of NSCLC tissue but not in paracancerous lung tissues. RT-PCR results showed that the expression of Bmi-1 in lung cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in paracancerous lung tissues (P<0.05). Conclusion Bmi-1is over expressed in NSCLC and may be associated with the oncogenesis and development of lung cancer.