MEKK3 and Survivin Expression in Cervical Cancer: Association with Clinicopathological Factors and Prognosis

• Published in: Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP 2014, Vol.15 (13), p.5271-5276
• Main Authors: Cao, Xue-Quan, Lu, Hong-Sheng, Zhang, Ling, Chen, Li-Li, Gan, Mei-Fu
• Format: Article
• Language: Korean
• ISSN: 1513-7368; 2476-762X

Mitogen-activated protein kinase/extracellular signal-regulated kinase kinase kinase 3 (MEKK3) is an important protein kinase and a member of the MAPK family, which regulates cellular responses to environmental stress and serves as key integration points along the signal transduction cascade that not only link diverse extracellular stimuli to subsequent signaling molecules but also amplify the initiating signals to ultimately activate effector molecules and induce cell proliferation, differentiation and survival. To explore the relationship between MEKK3 and cell apoptosis, clinicopathology and prognosis, we characterize the expression of MEKK3 and survivin in cervical cancer. MEKK3 and survivin expression was measured by RT-PCR and Western blotting of fresh surgical resections from 30 cases of cervical cancer and 25 cases of chronic cervicitis. Protein expression was detected by tissue microarray and immunochemistry (En Vision) in 107 cases of cervical cancer, 86 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), and 35 cases of chronic cervicitis. Expression patterns were analyzed for their association with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in cervical cancer. Expression of MEKK3 and survivin mRNA was significantly higher in cervical cancer than in the controls (p