Lipocalin-2 Upregulation in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma: A Novel Potential Diagnostic Biomarker
نویسندگان
1 Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
2 Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran
3 Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
4 Cellular and Molecular Research Center, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
5 Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Paramedicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
6 Otorhinolaryngology Research Center, School of Medicine, Amiralmomenin Hospital, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
doi
10.30476/ijms.2022.93041.2452چکیده
Background: Lipocalin-2 (LCN2) deregulation has been reported in several types of cancer and is implicated in the proliferation, migration, angiogenesis, and progression of tumors. However, its aberrant expression has been rarely studied in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). In the present study, we investigated the expression of LCN2 in NPC patients. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 29 NPC and 20 non-cancerous control paraffin pathology blocks were obtained from the seven-year (2011 to 2018) archive of Razi Laboratory in Rasht, Iran. LCN2 mRNA expression was evaluated through quantitative real-time PCR. In addition, immunohistochemistry was performed to evaluate LCN2 expression at the protein level. The fold change value and total immunostaining score (TIS) were applied for quantitative evaluation. The nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test and Fisher’s exact test were used through GraphPad Prism 8.3.0 software. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: Our results revealed that LCN2 mRNA and protein levels in NPC tissues were significantly higher than control tissues (P=0.028 and P=0.002, respectively). At the protein level, 65.51% (19/29) of NPC patients were categorized as having high LCN2 expression (TIS>3) and 34.47% (10/29) as low expression (TIS≤3). While in the control group, 25% (5/20) of subjects represented a high expression of LCN2 (TIS>3), and 75% (15/20) showed no or weak expression (TIS≤3). No significant correlation was found between the overexpression of LCN2 at the protein level and the demographic features of the patients. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that LCN2 might be considered a potential new diagnostic marker for NPC. However, this warrants further studies.
