端粒缩短在鼻咽癌发病作用中的研究

Telomere shortening in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma

目的探讨端粒缩短在鼻咽癌发病中的作用。方法采用Southern 杂交测定了42例鼻咽癌组织及对照组中的平均端粒长度(Mean telomere lengths, MTL)。结果在鼻咽癌组织中,MTL为(4.5±2.3) kb,明显比癌旁组织(14.6±2.8) kb和慢性鼻咽炎组(15.8±3.1) kb缩短。结论端粒长度改变与包括鼻咽癌在内的人体恶性肿瘤的发病可能有密切关系。

Objective To explore the role of telomere shortening in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods Southern blotting was employed to determine the mean telomere length (MTL) in 42 tumor samples and 15 samples of the tissues adjacent to the tumors obtained from 42 NPC patients, along with the tissue specimens from 17 patients with chronic nasopharyngitis. Results In NPC tissues, the length of the MTL was 4.5±2.3 kb, obviously shorter than those of the MTL in tissues adjacent to the tumor 14.6±2.8 kb and in chronic nasopharyngitis 15.8±3.1 kb. Conclusion Telomere shorten-ing may play an important role in the pathogenesis of nasopharyngeal epithelium cell malignancies.