Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate microarray technology in the detection of micrometastases of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) in muscle tissue. Three hundred SCCVII tumor cells were injected intramuscularly into the right flank of ten C3H/Km mice. One week later, the animals were euthanized and the muscle tissue was taken out. Histology (H&E staining), microarray and reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction analysis (RT-PCR) of the tissue was performed. Histology showed a few tumor cells between the muscle fibers. Microarray technology showed the different gene expression pattern of the muscle tissue with micrometastases in comparison to normal muscle tissue. Only genes with a fold change difference of 10 or greater were considered. Gene expression analysis revealed changes in the expression levels of 91 genes of micrometastases in muscle tissue. RT-PCR confirmed gene up-regulation. Significant differences in gene expression between micrometastases in muscle tissue and pure muscle tissue were found. The genes found to be up-regulated could be used to detect micrometastases in muscle tissue.
Footnotes
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Author Contributions
Silke Steinbach, conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, final approval of the version to be published; Esther L. Yuh, conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, final approval of the version to be published; Mykhaylo Burbelko, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, final approval of the version to be published; Walter Hundt, conception and design, acquisition of data, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting the article, final approval of the version to be published.
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This article is freely accessible online.
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Sponsorships
This study was supported in part by the Lucas Foundation.
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Disclosures
Competing interests: None.
- Received September 29, 2013.
- Revision received November 3, 2013.
- Accepted November 4, 2013.
- Copyright© 2013 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved